


Nalu - A twist in time

by Amara22



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, F/M, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2019-09-15 16:42:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 137,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16936929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amara22/pseuds/Amara22
Summary: Zeref sends Lucy and Nastu back in time years before they met to make sure that fairy tail is ready for the war that is coming so that Natsu can finally kill him.





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

Lucy couldn't breathe. She looked up at the blood red sky and she laughed. It was a desperate pathetic sound but since she couldn't get enough air into her lungs it came out as a high wheezing cough. Her left leg was trapped underneath a pile of rubble and she could feel the rock bite into her skin. Her hair was a mess, her clothes were torn and every single part of her body hurt.

She was covered in bruises, welts and scratches. Two of her fingers were broken and blood was leaking into her eyes from her temple. She was pretty sure that her left shoulder was dislocated. There was no humor in this situation but she didn't know what else to do but since she was Lucy of Fairy Tail. The Light of the Fairies, they called her. She did the only thing she could do, she smiled and laughed in the face of absolute pain and despair.

She was weak. She thought to herself in what was probably her last moments. Thinking back to the first time she met Natsu in Hargeon, she was a naïve, sheltered rich girl, running from her responsibilities and her life desperate for adventure and for a family. She had been so under prepared for everything that happened since joining Team Natsu it was a wonder she wasn't dead yet.

There had been many times in the early days of their adventures that she had wondered why the hell Natsu was so determined to keep her around? He had to constantly protect her but at the same time she ignored the thoughts of getting stronger in favor of having fun and being soothed by the words of her friends. None of them wanted to hurt her feelings and they told her that she didn't need to change or train. They loved her just the way she was and she appreciated the sentiment.

However looking back on her life now she knew that she had been foolish. Lucy had been eighteen years old, yearning for a better life. Instead she found herself in the middle of a war by the time she turned twenty and her best friend/boyfriend/lover/partner was actually a demon.

A demon who had been born over 400 years ago and died and had been brought back from the dead by his crazy brother. The crazy brother who was actually known as the Dark Wizard and the most evil guy on the planet. She didn't like to think too deeply on the status of her relationship with Natsu.

It was just too confusing. There was so much between them she didn't know what to call them most times but now here she was in the middle of a war that they just couldn't win, dying.

She couldn't move. She tried to twitch her toes or move her fingers at least and she just couldn't. She had no magic power left and no energy to even try to twitch her fingers anymore. She didn't know what happened to Natsu. He was facing off against his brother, she knew that much.

She could feel the heat from his flames all the way out here but she didn't know if he was winning or losing. However even though she had faith in him, she was sure that even if he did win by the time he returned to her side she would be long gone.

She could hear the sounds of battle all around her. It sort of reminded her of the time they were fighting against the dragons after the grand magic games but at the same time that felt like a lifetime ago. All their adventures seemed like a lifetime ago.

She was cold and at the back of her mind her subconscious was screaming at her that being cold was a very bad thing. Lucy however couldn't bring herself to care. She knew that her shoddy patchwork stitches was not going to hold.

She was bleeding out and this time she had no idea where Wendy was stationed currently. Even if the girl had managed to make it to her she doubted that she would have the energy to heal anyone else.

Everyone had wounds. Most of the time they were all so bloody and beaten to hell she wondered where they found the strength to pick themselves up and keep going. Then again they were Fairy Tail, picking themselves up after being beaten to hell and back was kind of what they were famous for.

Making their enemies pause and wonder how the hell they were still standing and if they really were human was something they were all proud of being able to do. They were all in some ways monsters but as hard as they fought, they each found themselves lagging. There was only so far you can push yourself, and her body no longer had the strength to scream in protest. No, she was just numb now.

She held her keys tightly in her hands. She had Yukino's keys as well. Saber's celestial mage had fallen in the first wave. Her death had sent Sting into a rage that wiped out a good chunk of their army but it didn't change the fact that she was gone.

Sting had brought Yukino's keys to her, saying that it was too dangerous to leave them lying around during the war. Lucy could at least open their gate and allow them to take vengeance for their fallen master.

She understood wanting to give the keys to someone who would be able to protect them and she knew that it was a really bad idea to have any of the golden keys lying around. It had already been proven that celestial magic could be used to meddle with time if combined with dark magic. They didn't need anyone trying anything else.

Then there was the fact that giving her keys would mean that all the keys would be gathered in the same place, held by the same mage, something like that had never happened in the history of Stellar magic but all those things still left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Lucy hadn't wanted to hold all the gold keys like this. She didn't want to make a contract with her friends spirits. They loved her as much as she loved them and it wasn't fair that she was gone. It wasn't right that the world lost one of the few celestial mages that cared about their spirits.

Her magic was rare enough and the amount of people that used it lessened every generation. To find not one but two celestial mages who cared for their spirits in the same generation was a miracle. The fact that this war had killed one of the few people that understood her feelings towards her spirits drove Lucy into a murderous rage.

However in the end, all their rage, frustration and desperation hadn't changed the fact this cursed war had ended a lot of innocent lives. Lucy opened their gates and allowed them to take their revenge. It had been the least that she could to ease their pain. She was probably the only celestial mage who ever held the entire zodiac even though she could no longer summon Aquarius.

Lucy had been the weakest member of Team Natsu. No matter how much she tried and how far she had come in her journey as a mage, she just had not taken her training seriously enough. She hadn't had enough time. She only trained properly once she lost Aquarius and she still had so much so learn. There was a time that she hadn't known where to start since there was just so much. It made her want to smack her younger self who was so opposed to training because she didn't want to put in the hard work.

She had been naïve thinking that adventures would be fun and that she didn't have to train to keep out of the real danger. Then again if she had known that there was going to be a war maybe she would have trained harder. Hell, if she had known half of what she knew now, she would have trained harder.

Things had been so much simpler back when she was just another run away rich girl who yearned for adventures. In her heart, she knew she wouldn't have traded this life for anything or anyone. She had made mistakes and this was just another lesson that she had learned far too late in life.

Lucy could feel her spirits and they were mourning for her. They were crying out in rage and pain, telling her to hold on a little longer but she didn't have the strength left. She sent them a pulse of warmth, letting them know she loved them and thanking them for fighting beside her in this godforsaken war. She ignored the burning sensation coming from Loke's key as he tried to force his gate open to her side. Finally she just closed her eyes because she was so damned tired.

Natsu was injured, tired, running low on magic power and he couldn't beat his brother. They lost so many people. There was so much damage and destruction and amongst the ruins of the city he could still sense it. Amongst the fighting and the death and amongst it all he could still smell her blood and there was too much of it.

Lucy was dying and he was stuck here fighting this monster that made him a demon and he still couldn't win. He needed to go to her but he was stuck here, facing his own flesh and blood and seeing only madness in his eyes. Natsu was getting his ass kicked losing the one fight he was supposed to be winning, the one fight that was supposed to determine the fate of world. This was the fight that he had been brought back from the bloody dead to win and he just couldn't do it.

He roared a sound filled with pain and desperation because he knew that if she died then he would die as well. For him there was no living without her. There was no future for him without her and there was no way in hell that he could win without her. She was his strength and as her heart beat started to slow so did his attacks. He was going to die with her because there was no way in hell that he would come out of this without her. Lucy was his heart and soul and without her, he was nothing.

He cursed those twelve assholes that beat them all to hell and back. He cursed his brother and that damned black bastard of a dragon. There were just too many of them to deal with at the same time. They couldn't beat them all, not in an ambush like this. They weren't ready, none of them had a plan, hell he didn't know if they would ever be ready for a full on war.

They had managed to defeat more than anyone thought possible but it didn't matter because as Natsu was losing against their leader. Zeref got more and more enraged as Natsu slowed down. He was meant to kill him so why wouldn't he fight back and end this war. Natsu was supposed to win because he had more to lose. Zeref wanted to die, immortality was a curse. He wanted it to end and Natsu was supposed to be his salvation.

"Luce." Natsu whispered her name as a prayer.

Zeref blasted Natsu with as much power as he could when he uttered the name of that blonde woman. He didn't really care about anyone anymore. He had emotions however they all, almost always ended up dead before he could blink. He didn't feel anything for any other human besides passing fondness.

Natsu on the other hand without the girl, he was willing to lay down and die. Then again taking in his injuries and the amount of magic he had left he wasn't ready for the final battle. The time had come but Natsu had been too uninformed of the reality of the situation. He had been planning this day for over four hundred years and Natsu was ignorant of his purpose. This meant that he wasn't ready.

Zeref was powerful enough to do this because if the blonde died then it seemed like his little brother was prepared to die as well just so that he didn't have to live without her. It sickened him. It drove him to the edge of his madness but he didn't care. Natsu would end his suffering and if the blonde woman was so bloody important then he would give him what he wanted. Natsu could think of it as his blessing or a wedding present for all he cared.

He picked up his little brother by the hair, "You aren't ready. You and the girl get one do over and if you cannot kill me when I'll burn this world to ash while the blonde watches in a fucking cage. You will die knowing that she will live with me haunting her every step if you cannot do better."

His eyes widened as he threatened Lucy. Natsu felt his fists clench ready to knock out his teeth for disrespecting her like that. Natsu didn't get what he was talking about and he didn't care. He just wanted him away from Lucy but before he could do anything or even think of something to say, there was another explosion. His vision went black and his ears hurt. Natsu fell and instead of the dirt of the burning city he hit the wooden floor of his home.

When he opened his eyes he found himself staring at his ceiling in his home. The one he shared with Happy, who was curled up on the sofa sleeping. Natsu grabbed his scarf and went outside. The sun was shining and there were no traces of the war. The air smelled clean, no dust or fire or death in the air. He could even hear the sounds of people in the town and they sounded happy and safe. The city had been evacuated before the first wave when the war started.

Natsu looked at his hands and noticed that it was smaller than he remembered and less scarred. He was also a little shorter than he used to be.

'What the bloody hell just happened?' he thought to himself.

He went inside and saw the calendar and map. He used the map to mark any supposed sightings of Igneel and to keep track of the months. It was the year x782 that was two years before he even met Lucy. A few weeks before Lisanna's supposed death as well.

That would mean when Zeref said something about a do over he sent him back in time. Natsu knew very little about time magic except for the little bit he saw when he fought Ultear for like five minutes. He was sure that Zeref mentioned Lucy as well so maybe he sent her back as well. Her heart was still beating, slowly but she had still been alive before Zeref did whatever he did and he woke up here.

That meant she was back at the manor waiting for him to bring her home. At least he hoped that was where she was since she hadn't run away yet. If he woke up in his home then that had to where she woke up. He left a note for Happy saying that there was something he need to check out and that he should stay with Lisanna for a couple of days until he was back. Then he went to go get Lucy.

Lucy woke up on silk sheets and she immediately knew something was wrong. She hadn't felt comfort like this since she had left the manor. The one that her father had lost before his death so waking up in her old bedroom that was the size of her flat was confusing. The last thing she remembered was lying in the rubble, bleeding to death so this couldn't be real. At least that was what her mind was telling her.

She looked at her calendar on the wall and realized that in this year according to that calendar she was sixteen years old. This was the year that her father tried to set her up with a betrothal. She had stayed, trying to give it chance trying to make him understand that this wasn't the life she wanted. However once he signed the contract she ran that had been six months before her eighteenth birthday.

In retaliation the Jurnelle family made it their mission to destroy her father and eventually succeeded. In a way, she knew that the family would take offence. Since she had technically never spoke out against the contract and then ran away and disgracing their family.

Apparently the bride running away to a mage rather than marry a rich snob meant to the upper society that something must be wrong with him. If a Lady chose an 'uncouth' lifestyle rather than marry him, his reputation had been dragged through the mud along with hers.

Lucy picked up the ring of keys on the dresser next to her. There were thirteen golden keys, the first thing her mind registered was that she had Aquarius back. Her eyes widened and tears pooled in her eyes unable to believe what she was seeing but these keys should be with their masters.

If this was the past then she shouldn't have these keys. She had gotten most of these keys years from now when she had joined Fairy Tail. Karen and Angel and wherever Yukino's keys were before she found them while she was napping on Tenrou Island should still be in those places with those masters.

Lucy always thought that if she hadn't been trapped on the Island for seven years then she probably would have found all the gold keys on her own. Yukino told her once that none of the keys that she had were given to her.

Unlike Lucy who inherited several golden keys from her mother Yukino had found them on her own. She never said where so she assumed that she either bought some of them or got them as a reward. That had been the ways that she found her keys but now they were all here with her. She didn't know how that was possible, hell she didn't know she got here in the first place.

Loke forced open his gate and hugged her tightly. He was muttering about how scared they all were that she was going to die. Her spirits could feel her dying and none of them could help her. It was a terrifying experience so be able to feel the life force of their mistress drain out of her as they were stuck in the spirit world.

Loke cursed himself for not being able to help her more. He also thanked the higher powers of the universe that celestial spirits were not affected by time travel easily and that he and the rest of her spirits were able to keep their memories.

He smiled at her reassuringly, pulling himself out of his dark thoughts before she could scold him for thinking like that and said, "I came to give you some answers. We don't know everything but we do have some information. Zeref did this. The King could feel his magic send your soul back and so he ensured that we would come with you. He sent you and someone else back in time, merging the two of you with your younger bodies."

Lucy's jaw actually dropped. She didn't know something like that was even possible. Ultear could manipulate time but this was more than normal time magic. This dealt with soul magic as well. Soul magic was a branch of magic that was even rarer than lost magic. There were almost no books on it and there were very little on the planet that even wanted to read about soul magic.

It was something that no one liked to dig too deeply into, death was one thing and so was necromancy but the soul? That was something that no human truly understood and no one wanted to a mistake with that magic. She was pretty sure that there were no mistakes with this magic. Either it worked or you killed your very soul and no one knew what would happen if that happened.

Then again Zeref spent most of his life researching life and death so it made sense that he would study that branch of magic. To remove a persons soul from the body was one thing but to move that soul through time and merge it with the soul that already exists? She didn't even want to think about how that was even possible or the amount of magic it would take to do something like that.

Loke on the other hand, ignored her dumbstruck expression and continued with his explanation, "Due to the time travel and the fact that celestial magic has always been given more leeway when it comes to time magic our history has been changed. Karen died two weeks earlier before I could force open my gate and threaten her but she faced Angel in battle and lost her life.

Rune Knights arrested Angel afterwards but she managed to escape however they already took her keys breaking their contract to her. The keys that they confiscated were lost when the prison transport vehicle was attacked. Angel's allies freed her and lost her keys in the process and the other three keys that Yukino found were spread out in the world. They had not been contracted for a long time. Angel will probably learn different magic earlier now and Yukino will either learn a different kind of magic or not become a mage at all. I never joined Fairy Tail as Loke so that changes some stuff as well."

Lucy nodded as she slowly came to understand what happened and how she still had all the keys. Since she was in the past Aquarius's key had never been destroyed so she had a second chance with the spirit. All that aside it didn't change the fact that she was stuck in the past with no idea what to do. The consequences of time travel on this scale were immense and she didn't even want to think of all the ways that things could go wrong if she messed up something.

"Who was the other person he sent back?" she asked and Loke shook his head. The lion spirit didn't know as he was probably more concerned about his mistress who had been bleeding to death at the time. The fact was, they knew because they were her spirits. The other person that had been sent back was not connected to them.

Lucy changed her clothes and for a moment she had butterflies in her stomach, her father was still alive but he was also still a bitter bastard and she didn't know what to do or even if she should interfere with the time line however she already knew that her just coming here had already changed things, Loke spent three years as a mage and now he would never go on the jobs that he went on and Loke was a close friend of Gray and now they wouldn't be partners either so she didn't know how that would change the timeline.

The other problem was that she didn't know who else knew of the future that they came from they could be an enemy who would use the knowledge to hurt her family or an ally that didn't now that she had come back as well so they might change things without telling her, honestly she didn't think that anything was going to happen the way, then again nothing ever happens the same way twice.

She was so lost in her thoughts she didn't even realize that she was in the dining room, her father might join her for breakfast, he would want to tell her about the marriage proposals and the prospective grooms that he wanted her to meet in the coming months but she wasn't sure when that conversation actually happened and she had no idea how she was supposed to respond to his demands this time even though a part of her really just wanted to punch him in the face for acting like a bastard.

"Lucy." The scream of a male's voice sounded throughout the dining room and her father looked at her darkly but Lucy had no idea what was happening until the ceiling caved in. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't really registered the chaos that was taking place in front of her.

"Pardon the intrusion." Said the pink haired, fire mage who had just burst into her old home through the roof, screaming her name with a grin on his face like nothing unusual was happening, her jaw dropped and she was pretty sure that her father may or may not have had a heart attack.

"Yo, Luce are you hurt? Are you alright? Do you remember?" he asked the questions in rapid fire, ignoring the dust and ruined furniture in the dining room.

Natsu even ignored the shocked maids who had dropped various cleaning supplies, trays full of food and the many other servants who had come running into the room from outside. They both ignored sound of her father trying to breathe through the dust and the horror that he was probably feeling. She wondered if he would faint for a brief moment and felt a little guilty for enjoying his suffering. Then again, at this point in time he was still a jerk so she thought he deserved it.

"Natsu." She whispered and then she cried, tears falling rapidly down her cheeks.

Lucy had been on the verge of death one moment and then supposedly back in time the next. Years before she met her family and Natsu and her team. She had been so scared and so unsure of everything that was happening. Lucy thought that was alone again with just her spirits for company and then he burst through her roof of all places.

As soon as she saw him she just knew that everything was going to be alright. Natsu would make everything better because it was him that ended up in the past with her. She knew that everything would work put eventually because they were together again and there was nothing that they couldn't do. Natsu was always the one that she turned to when shit hit the fan and everything seemed hopeless.

As long as he was with her then she knew that she was going to be alright. Natsu had been the person who brought her to the guild. He stood by her no matter what people said or even when she had felt low about herself. Natsu was always there and now even in this situation where she didn't know which was up or down he had still come for her.

"Hey, its alright, I'm here now. I came to bring you home." He replied and her father lost his shit. She was honestly surprised that he kept it together for this long.

"What is the meaning of this?" he shouted and Lucy hugged him too.

She was tired of being angry at him for being a jerk and it all just came pouring out. Honestly once she introduced Natsu she just couldn't stop talking so she told him about running away, Phantom Lord, Tenrou Island, Tartaros and the war which finally led them all here. When she was done she collapsed ignoring the horror that she could see in her fathers eyes as she continued to explain her story. It was just too much for her and telling everything to her father had wrung her out. Everything that had gone on today had driven her to the very edge of her patience. She could feel the blood pounding in her ears just before the blackness embraced her.

Natsu hadn't been surprised when she fainted. He simply caught her around her waist, hoisted her into a princess carry and followed Jude into his study. He placed Lucy on the sofa underneath the huge windows and for a moment, she looked like a princess from a story who was simply sleeping. Lucy was stressed and tired and losing her shit so he decided to let her sleep and he would talk to her father.

He could see the frown lines on her face and for another moment he was shocked at how young she looked. Then again, unlike most of the other guild members he had never seen Lucy when she had been younger. Her eyes were the same but her face was youthful. It was shocking to see the difference that time had made for them.

"There is no way all that was a lie. I know my daughter and I know when she lies. As far-fetched as her story is, I know it's the truth. Besides she has more keys now even I can see that and I can sense the magic in her. She didn't have that much of a presence yesterday." Said Jude as he poured himself a glass of whiskey.

Natsu waited for him to say something else, to decide if he was going to be an enemy or an ally. He didn't really care what Jude thought or said but if he tried to keep Lucy here he would burn this place to the ground.

However he didn't want it to come to that, Lucy cared for her father. She had mourned for him when he died so he knew that leaving on a good note would mean a lot to her. He hoped her father learned from everything that Lucy told him. Natsu didn't want to fight him on whether or not Lucy was going to be leaving this place or not. He wanted the man to give them both his blessing. He knew how much that would mean to her.

"I wanted her to be happy you know, that's why I did everything I did. I thought that if I gave her everything money could buy she would be happy but I failed. I couldn't bear to look at her either. It hurt so much to see Layla and know that she was gone. However, I hurt her far more than I realized. I won't stand in the way of her happiness and I will help you and your guild. If it is to be her home then I will protect it. I can start working on the Magic Council, I have enough clout to enter politics."

Natsu realized that he had been dismissed so he took Lucy to her room and waited her to wake up. Lucy woke up curled around Natsu and for a moment she forgot everything just enjoying being in his arms. She knew his warmth instinctively however being in his arms had become a haven for her. She always knew when he held her that she was safe, that she was home so waking up like this. It was a good way to wake up after everything that they had just gone through.

Lucy could still taste the smoke filled air as she took her dying breaths. The war may not be here but it haunted her thoughts and her memories. She doubted that either of them could pretend that it hadn't happened. She didn't think that she could just walk into the guild and pretend to not know any of them. Thanks to the time travel, she technically hadn't met them yet. She wasn't their nakama and it hurt.

After nearly dying beside them in what seemed to be like yesterday, Lucy didn't think she had it in her to pretend like she didn't know them. She shook her head and put those thoughts out of her head. She had more pressing matters to attend to right now. She could figure out what they were going to do later.

"What happened with my Father?" she asked and he explained but Lucy couldn't go with him.

As shocked as she was with her fathers easy acceptance of everything that she told him in a mini panic because everyone knew she couldn't lie to save her life. She never believed that he would try to protect her but she couldn't just run away again with so little warning.

"You have to go back to the guild Natsu and I need to stay here at least for a few weeks. I need to get to know him again. I can't lose this chance. I won't take long. I just want to spend a little time with him."

He didn't like it. Natsu never liked being away from her for long but he understood. She wanted to let her father know that she loved him and try to repair their relationship even a little. It was something that she hadn't bothered to do before she left. Both times she left this house she left without saying goodbye, instead she left with silence and then harsh words. Then he was gone before she could repair the relationship that they shared. It was only fair that he give her this time.

"In a few weeks, Mira, Elfman and Lisanna are going to go on that S-class mission. I think we should go and save her."

Lucy bit her lip, "That will change the timeline Natsu, in a big way."

She had to warn him of the dangers of messing with time. It wasn't that she didn't want to help but they couldn't ignore the danger that came with messing with time. On the other hand since she had so many gold keys already she knew that technically time had already been changed. Loke never joined the guild, Angel and her magic even things with her father. Everything was different already so why couldn't they save their friends a whole lot of pain?

"I know, but Zeref said we get one chance to change the timeline and that means getting strong enough to fight the war. Mira lost two years of magical training when Lisanna died. When she got her sister back she still wasn't an active mage. Powerful as Mira was she could have been better and during the war she wasn't strong enough. Hell even during the fight with Tartaros, she could have done better. Lisanna lost years as well and Elfman was terrified of his powers as well. When they thought Lisanna died their magic came to a standstill."

Lucy saw his point as well. They needed powerful mages and they all needed a lot of training but they also had a lot of time. They didn't have to worry about Alvarez until both the Etherion cannon and FACE were destroyed and even then the last time they had about a year and a half before the country was ready to go to war. However just because they had time didn't mean that they shouldn't be training.

"We'll meet in Clover Town in two weeks. That's when they fought the beast and Lisanna went to Edolas. That gives me time to be with my dad as well." Said Lucy and Natsu nodded.

"We can make a real plan afterwards for now we'll work with a two week time limit. Don't tell anyone anything. We don't need more people knowing things and changing things without us knowing. The more we change, the less control we have over everything that happens so lets try and keep this between us for now."

Natsu nodded and got ready to leave but before he left, he grabbed her by the hand and kissed her. He had wanted to do that for so bloody long there was no way he wasn't going to do it now not after how many times he had nearly lost her. Technically she had been bleeding to death and he was forced to hear her heart beat slowing down until she was nearly dead. He was going to have nightmares for years.

He left her standing in the doorway if her home, blushing ten kinds shades of red as he called out, "I'll be back for what's mine."

She smiled to herself. If she was supposed to be his then he was hers but then again maybe they always belonged to each other and they were only now admitting it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

AN: I got the idea for Lucy's new weapon from shadowhunters, it works like Izzy's bracelet but it doesn't look like a snake.

Jude Heartfilia was not a nice man, not like his late wife. Layla had compassion in spades. She was fierce in her protection of those she cared for but at the same time she was a bleeding heart. She never wanted anyone to suffer. Layla didn't hold grudges she always told him that life was too short to waste time hating people.

She said that hate took so much energy she never could hold onto it for long. She claimed that it would only poison her heart and she was too busy loving the people who loved her to bring herself to hold peoples actions against them.

His daughter was so much like her mother and it wasn't just the fact that they shared so many facial features. It was her heart as well. Lucy yearned for adventure all her life but she had such a gentle heart that he feared that she would be taken advantage of and be left heartbroken. The world could be a cold cruel place and that was something that he had inadvertently shown his daughter in his desperate attempt to protect her from the world.

He knew that he was nothing like the two women that he was blessed to know and call his family. He was ruthless, cold, stubborn and strong. He set his sights on what he wanted and he didn't let anything or anyone get in his way. When they did, he completely and utterly destroyed that threat. That was probably the reason why he had managed to build one of the largest businesses in the world but without his wife there was no one left to soothe his rough edges.

His wife was the best part of himself and he had wronged his daughter. He didn't mean to do it. He had honestly believed that she would be happy in the life that he was providing for her.

Lucy didn't smile or laugh instead she walked around like a lifeless doll. Jude had the feeling that if his wife had known what he was going to do to his daughter she would have killed him. As gentle and caring Layla had been, she had fire in her soul. She had a strength in her that made him a better man and losing her had been like losing a piece his sanity and soul.

He wondered for a moment when he began to think that wealth would Lucy happy. Both he and Layla had next to nothing when they first started out. She had been in a guild earning money and trying to save up for a house and he was an up and coming business man. He hadn't actually had much back then.

Layla had believed in him and his vision. She knew that he would one day make the business world kneel before him. He was a stubborn man she would say with a smile and then with joy in her eyes she would tell her friends, 'he'll make the world bow to him before he bows to it'.

She would say that he had a spine of steel, strong and unyielding when it came to what he wanted but he wondered when those things had become bad parts of his character. When his heart had turned to ice and he supposed that it happened as his beloveds body turned cold so did his heart. As much as it hurt him to see his daughter and remember what he had lost, Lucy was a part of Layla. The best parts of her and the best parts of himself. She deserved better from him.

Layla would never have let him choose his daughter's future for her but then again Layla had once been a mage. She firmly believed that every person should have the chance to choose their own path in life. As a parent the only thing that he should want for her was to be happy.

He obviously wished that she would have just been happy to live as an heiress. To become the wife of another business man and help to grow his business. However, Lucy was more like than Layla than he believed and it wasn't just in her looks. She had fire in her soul and she wanted to go on an adventure.

There was a part of him that wished that she wouldn't choose such a dangerous profession. Mages died all the time or they went missing but then again it was the path that made her happy. She didn't want fancy clothes and jewels she had wanted a family, love and to live her life to the fullest.

Fairy Tail had given her a family. They were a family that had the guts to fight against him to protect her from him. That boy, the one with pink hair he would do anything for her. After all he came here and faced him without fear because he loved her and he was determined to take her home.

He hadn't announced that he was seeking a groom for his daughter so there would be no backlash if he didn't say anything. He would need an heir though, someone who would take over the business. He would put it in Lucy's name for now, maybe one of his grandchildren would want to take it over. It wasn't like Lucy didn't know how to run the estate but for the first time in a long time he took a look at the estate he created and said he had enough.

He had dived into his work desperate to try and get Layla of his mind once upon a time. She had haunted his every step and every waking moment. He missed her and he felt so incomplete without her that he put all his energy into his empire.

However as his empire had been built a little bit of his precious daughters happiness had been chipped away and now he knew why he couldn't get Layla off his mind. She was punishing him for abandoning their daughter in her time of need. When he was supposed to stand strong and be her pillar of support he crumbled. Then she went of seeking what she was denied in this house.

Lucy would never be the daughter he pictured to be and that was probably what was going to make him so damn proud. The perfect heiress didn't exist and she would never be like the other high society ladies but she would be so much more. He would right his wrongs and he would do everything he could to ensure her happiness. He owed her that much.

A businessman with ties to nobility getting involved in politics wasn't something new to the country. There were many high council members who had been running estates before they decided to try having a vote in politics. They were not members of the Ten Wizard Saints. No, that was the Magic Council who oversaw the guild activities however there were several powerful politicians who oversaw areas in Fiore. A step higher than Mayor but lower than King.

They took care of some of the larger problems that a mayor couldn't deal with. They were able to get information from the magic council and they often gave money to areas in the country that were suffering. There were also areas that had been destroyed due to whatever magic battle that had taken place that the town couldn't repair and neither the King nor the council could deal with it.

The King and the council couldn't always foot the bill for extensive damages and some smaller areas and villages would almost always get over looked. Here he could do something good with all the money that was just lying in the bank. The towns often offered some type of repayment so it wasn't like he would come out with nothing.

It wasn't much in the long run but he could pass information to his daughter and try to protect her guild as much as possible. It would also help them to know that they had someone looking out for them. Guilds didn't have much respect but he could ensure that they were given a bit of a heads up if the council tried anything.

From what Lucy had said Fairy Tail hadn't been a favourite for the magic council, this way they would know if the council tried anything funny. It wasn't like they hadn't tried to disband the guild or make them pay heavy fines or just generally cause them trouble.

He knew at the back of his mind that all this was more than a little bit crazy. The talk of time travel and dragons and dark wizards that should have died more than four hundred years ago. Then again he knew that Layla done something drastic which led to her illness and no matter how much he had raged at her and then begged and pleaded she never told him what happened.

Once the worry had set in, when she first told him of her illness she refused to tell him what she done to lead magic deficiency syndrome. Apparently she opened a magical gate which let dragons and dragon slayers into this time period. No matter how insane it sounded or how unbelievable he did know his daughter and Lucy didn't lie.

She would sigh and furrowed her brows and grimaced but she didn't lie. When she didn't want to do something she always made sure he knew that she wasn't happy but she did what she was told because she wanted to make him happy. That kind of made him feel like a horrible father.

"You're taking this better than I thought you would." Lucy was standing in the doorway of his study, watching him as he sipped his scotch.

"I made many mistakes Lucy but I know my daughter and I know that she would never lie. Besides having a pink haired young man stand in my dining room with a wall of flames around him kind of puts things into perspective."

Lucy could feel her mouth twitch as she struggled to hold back her grin. She never heard her father use dry wit like that but then again she barely spoke to him in all the years that they lived together. Jude on the other hand ignored the flash of humor in her eyes. It was nice to see some emotion from his daughter for a change rather than just resignation.

She took a seat in front of his desk and smiled. It wasn't the smile of a naive young girl but the smile of a confident young woman who was happy to be in his presence. Somehow his little girl had become a beautiful young woman. A woman Layla would have been proud to see, one that he almost didn't get the chance to know.

"Natsu isn't very tactful but his heart is in the right place." She replied smiling as she thought of her partner and all the crazy antics he had gotten in while dragging her along.

"Tell me about him Lucy, I would like to hear about the person that gave you a family."

Lucy's eyes got that faraway look that she usually had when she got absorbed in writing a chapter as she described Natsu, "He is as fiery as the magic he uses. He goes all in no matter what it is. He is also a very simple sort of person he knows what he wants and he always goes after it. He loves with everything that he has and he protects his family as fiercely as a dragon. He is a good man with a good heart. He has his short comings and he drives me crazy but I couldn't imagine my life without him. He makes me laugh and the happiness of his family is his main priority."

Jude smiled as she spoke of him, her eyes shining brighter with every word spoken, "Are those the reasons you love him?"

Lucy blushed but instead she asked, "How did you know?"

Jude laughed, "A father knows when his daughter is love besides it was easy to see in the way that he looked at you. I once looked at your mother the same way."

They talked for hours about her mother and their adventures. There were a lot of things that she had never known about her mother and her father. The way they fell in love and their wedding and her as a baby and how scared he had been to be a father. He messed up a lot of things when Layla died but she was still here and so was he and that was enough to try and make a better future. She warned him about getting a good accountant just to make sure there was no funny business with their accounts

Natsu was gone for three days when he returned to the guild many people noticed something was different with the dragon slayer. Natsu was calm and that was something that usually never happened, even when he failed at finding his father when he took off on his many trips to find him.

Natsu always returned happily kicking open the door and calling out his greetings. This time he opened the door and walked in, calling out a greeting softly and with a soft smile before going to the bar where Bisca was on duty for the day. Happy flew to him happily asking him why he left and where he had gone but Natsu seemed sad when Happy reminded him that he went away.

"What's the matter Natsu? Did you go looking for Igneel again?" asked Happy, munching on a fish and Natsu just shook his head.

"I found some answers Happy." He replied and he ordered some food and sat and ate quietly.

Master was worried because he never saw Natsu act like this before. To him the change in behavior had come out of nowhere and he didn't know what was happening to his child. The truth was that Natsu felt weird because Lucy's scent wasn't in the guild.

She hadn't been living here yet so her scent wasn't anywhere here and he felt weird without her. He had known Lucy for so long that not having her scent around him was strange. When he left for a year he took several of her scarfs with him so that he would have a piece of her and he already missed her.

To everyone else it might not have happened but to him he was fighting a war less than a week ago. He had heard her heart slow down. She had been practically dead and he was forced to admit that in those moments he had been powerless. Natsu could have lost her, forever and he really didn't want to be here right now. He wanted to be next to Lucy ensuring that she is alive, to hear her heart beat.

Everyone who knew Natsu knew that he wasn't good when it came long term strategy sessions so having him here at the guild without Lucy was a very bad idea. He didn't want to mess anything up. He knew that Lucy had a point when she said that too many people knowing would change too many things. They wanted to keep their changes to as little as possible but anything they did would cause ripples so they couldn't ensure anything would happen the way they remembered it.

Natsu looked up and saw Ezra and Mira arguing and he smiled for a moment. After Lisanna died their rivalry died as well but the truth was that Mira pushed Ezra just as much Ezra pushed Mira. Many of their spars had Ezra or Mira learning new things and getting more powerful. When Mira retired there was no one around who could give Ezra a real fight and she stopped pushing herself as hard as she did now. If Mira never retired then her rivalry with Ezra would survive and the two of them would probably get a whole lot more training done because they were so determined to beat each other.

Lisanna was powerful as well but two years in Edolas and she missed out on so much. Elfman on the other hand he was always a little timid. After Lisanna died he wanted to step up and protect his family but he was very careful when it came to using his magical power. He only attempted another beast soul takeover during the Phantom Lord drama two years later. Mira and Elfman had been afraid to use their powers and Lisanna couldn't use her takeover magic in Edolas putting her out of the game for two years.

He saw Gray sitting in a booth alone. The ice mage usually worked solo or with Loke or Ezra or whoever asked really but since Loke never joined the guild he assumed that the man was probably lonely. He thought that maybe when Lucy joined back up they could reform Team Natsu a little earlier.

He could annoy the ice mage into a couple more fights more often forcing him to train a little harder. If he really thought about it, this was two years in the past. Gray needed a good kick in the ass to get back up to the right level. He didn't have his devil slayer magic yet but his ice make magic was second to none before he got that from his father.

Gray was probably the best friend that he had even though the two of them fought so much. The fact was that he would trust the ice mage with his life but they didn't have that relationship yet. It made him kind of sad to realize that he never really reached out to Gray. He was always sort of quiet and preferred his own company but that was only because he felt guilty about what happened to his mentor. Natsu was just too wrapped up in his own drama to realize that back then.

Natsu had forgotten that even though the guild meant so much to him things had been different before Lucy came to Fairy Tail. The team that they formed kind of had them facing off against everyone's past at one point and overcoming their past. Natsu had always spent most of his time going on missions to get stronger or looking for his father. He had never really spent time in the guild, with his friends and really bonding with them. That only started happening when he met Lucy.

When he met Lucy finding Igneel wasn't so important anymore. He still went off looking for him but taking care of Lucy had been his priority. That was when he slowly calmed down and formed his own team, strengthening the relationships that they shared.

He actually started living in the moment instead of searching for someone from his past. Igneel was always at the back of his mind but the raging desire to find his father and demand answers about the past weren't so important anymore.

It still meant a lot but he also learned that there was more to life than searching for answers of the past. He finally started to live in Fairy Tail with his family and build a future with the people in his present instead of wondering about the past.

He noticed Laxus and his team sitting up in the S-class lounge and remembered that the lightening dragon slayer still needed a good kick in the ass. The last time Laxus understood the meaning of family and strength and what it truly meant to be a Fairy Tail mage was after he had been expelled. Tough love from his grandfather after he went a little bit insane, actually his team had their own issues as well.

Evergreen had that silly grudge about the name Titania and being the most powerful woman wizard in the guild. Freed and Bickslow just kind of followed Laxus but Natsu had a feeling that Lucy wasn't going to stand for their attitude not after getting to know them when they finally pulled their heads outta their asses. They were gonna have to deal with him and he had no idea how to do that since this was Laxus they were talking about. He was no where the near the level that he had been on in the future but still- Natsu was talking about Laxus here.

If Laxus did manage to pull his head out of his ass early he wondered whether or not it would be a good idea to introduce him to Wendy. Laxus was much older than the other dragon slayers and he managed to master his magic without a dragon to teach him. Wendy ended up mastering dragon force but when she had first come to the guild she was very quiet and unsure of her abilities. It might be a good idea for him to train her a little bit especially since Wendy never had anyone to actually teach her offensive magic. She learned from watching him.

Lighting and air magic did complement each other and it would probably teach Laxus a few lessons about being a role model. If it came down to it he would teach her as well. Natsu didn't mind but he had a feeling that Laxus and Wendy would have a lot to learn from each other. Natsu would teach her how to fight but Laxus could teach her so much more and he was sure of that if only he wasn't such a jerk. He would probably make her cry currently.

While he thought of Wendy he also remembered Mystogan and he wondered whether or not the man would want to stay in the guild. They could always go to Edolas and deal with the king like they did the last time and he was sure that if they planned everything better. Then they could probably find someone better to be the King or Queen of the place.

Mystogan only stayed in Edolas because it needed him but he had spent most of his life in Earthland and as a guild member. He hadn't wanted to be King but they kind of ran out options in the end. He seemed happy but he wondered what choice he would make if he had more time to think about it.

Natsu was sure that Lucy could find a way to ensure that he came back with them if he chose too. He felt like Mystogan deserved to choose how to live his life without the pressure of an entire kingdom on his shoulder and if he chose to leave then they would give him the farewell ceremony.

Thinking about Mystogan also led him to thinking about Jellal and the fact that it was kind of his fault that they lost the Etherion cannon. He also killed a lot of people in the council and he made Ezra cry before nearly killing himself, getting rid of the possession, getting amnesia, going to jail and then becoming some sort of vigilante.

Thinking about Jellal made his head hurt because the fact was that everything that he did was just so crazy and confusing. His plan was way too detailed for him to understand and in the end he only kicked the crap out of him because he made Ezra cry.

He thought that maybe they should just destroy the island before he tries to kidnap Ezra. He would run the idea past Lucy if they found a way to undo the possession then maybe they could give Ezra her friend back and gain another powerful ally without making him a criminal.

He thought about Ultear for a moment remembering her as being part of the guild that Jellal created but in the end he largely decided to ignore her interference. He knew that she faced Gray on Tenrou Island and got some sort of reality check but he wasn't really sure what happened mostly because she was not his opponent.

He supposed the best thing to do there was to leave her to Gray. She was his teachers daughter or something like that. It was a family issue as far as he was concerned and she was too large of a piece. They couldn't tangle with Ultear without taking on her guild and no one was ready for that.

"Are you alright Natsu?" asked Lisanna and Natsu was pulled out of his thoughts and smiled at her.

She seemed so much younger than the person he remembered but then again she was only sixteen years old. The last time he saw her she had been nearly twenty. He actually didn't know what happened to Lisanna during the war. He lost sight of her some time during the second wave and he didn't even know if she had still been alive when he was facing Zeref.

He smiled at her, relaxing a little in her presence, "Yeah I am, sorry for just leaving Happy with you without any notice."

Lisanna narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. He was still sort of distant he relaxed a little bit in her presence but there was still something off about his behavior.

"You know Happy is always welcome with us Natsu but where did you go? Did you get another lead on your father?"

Natsu didn't want to lie to anyone but at the same time he didn't really know what else to say. He also noticed at everyone was looking at him, waiting for some sort of answer. He sighed, now he understood what Lucy meant when she used to say that the guild was nosey. No one could keep any type of secret.

"I found some answers Lisanna. I'll be going away for a couple of weeks while I sort some stuff out."

Natsu knew he was being vague but the truth was that he would be going away for a few weeks. He saw a couple jobs near Clover Town where Mira would take the S-class mission. He decided to take those jobs and that he was going to be as careful as humanly possible so that he got the whole reward so that he could sort out his house.

He already knew what he wanted and this time Lucy wasn't going to get the chance to make excuses and act oblivious. Then again he hadn't figured it out until after Lisanna returned from Edolas and realized that the feelings he had for her and the ones that he had for Lucy were very different things. This time there was going to be no mistakes or misunderstandings, they had lost more than enough time.

"Hey Happy, I got a few jobs for us buddy, we better get packing." He called out as he left the guild.

Lisanna watched him leave confused at the sudden change in behavior. She assumed it was because of whatever news that he had gotten from wherever he disappeared too. She hoped that everything was going to be alright.

Master knew that he had taken three jobs. All near the same areas so he would probably be gone for 10-12 days at the most. They were mostly easy things, like taking out a couple of bandits and tracking some missing people so he wouldn't take long to complete the missions. He just hoped that he would limit the damages but then again seeing the condition that he was in he worried for his child. Whatever happened to him seemed to have caused him pain and no one had seen Natsu like this before. He was usually always happy and energetic.

"Do you think he's alright Master?" asked Ezra and he honestly didn't know what to say.

"I'm sure he just needs some time and he'll be back to his normal self in no time." He replied and prayed that it was true. Although he wasn't sure if Ezra had heard him or not since she was currently brawling with Mira again. He sighed, his brats were a handful.

Lucy needed to be in Clover Town in three days. She had spent a lot of time with her father she had also been preparing for her trip to Fairy Tail with Natsu. She hoped that she would be able to rent her apartment again.

"Lucy I know you need to meet up with Natsu but before the two of you journey to the guild I would like you both to come back here. At least two days and then you both can leave on your adventure."

Lucy didn't know why her father was asking for them both to return but it wouldn't make much of a difference. She supposed it wouldn't be too much of an issue to return home and say her proper goodbyes. She already had plans to visit him since their relationship was so much better now.

Her father gifted her a new outfit just before she could leave. It was a dress in a dark blue colour with a turtle neck design with no sleeves. When she put it on she noticed the five pointed star pattern on her belly and the high slits on the sides of the dress, going all the way up to her hips. She had black leather skinny leg pants underneath it and sleek black combat boots.

She fixed her hair in her signature hairstyle, grabbed her keys and attached them to her hip where he had a special pocket just for them and then he handed her a silver bracelet. There was an odd diamond in the middle and Lucy could feel faint traces of magic on the bracelet. She picked it up curiously and raised an eyebrow at him and he smiled.

"I remembered you telling me about your choice of weapon. You got the whip because it was the only thing you could afford at the time but you grew to be very good at using it. A whip is good for long distance fighting and if you cannot call your spirits and someone gets in close then you need another weapon. I had this enchanted and made from the remains of a magic scepter."

He took the bracelet out of the case and wrapped it around her wrist. He pointed to the stone, "Send a pulse of your magic into the stone."

Lucy did as he instructed and sent a pulse of magic onto the bracelet in a similar manor as to when she would brush against her keys.

She was shocked when the bracelet unwrapped itself and grew into a wicked silver whip with a diamond at the tip for even more damage. She gave it a few tosses to get used to the weight and she absolutely loved it. Jude smiled at the joy in her eyes. He finally got it right, finally managed to get her something she obviously adored.

"Send another pulse of magic when you flick the whip and this time think of a staff." He said shocking her out of her mini practice session. Lucy raised an eyebrow in his direction and then did as she was told. The whip elongated into a staff roughly as tall as her shoulders with the diamond much larger than before sitting on the top.

"If you practice you will be able to shoot magic blasts out of the diamond. Be careful doing that will drain your magic quickly. I was told its similar to light magic and there is one more thing I can do. Send another magic pulse into the staff and this time break it in half."

Lucy was left holding a pair of escrima sticks in her hands and he chucked, "Just in case you're somewhere where the staff is too long you can break it half and use it. It only has those three types of weapons but I thought it would serve you well. You said you wanted learn to fight better but didn't want knives or swords so I got the next best thing."

Lucy absolutely adored her new weapons and hugged her father tightly before setting off to meet Natsu.

"One last piece of advice Lucy, learn requip magic. It doesn't have to be on a large scale but enough to put your keys in a dimension only you can access and call them to you if someone steals it. It was something your mother once told me that she wished she had done as it would have made her life easier when she had been mage. She never really had the chance to learn before we retired."

She flashed her Heartfilia signet ring to the train conductor and he let her on without a ticket. One of the perks of owning the train station was that she got free rides. She mulled over what her said and she felt a little foolish that she never tried to do something like learning requip magic. Then again she never trained her magic much until it was far too late but she decided that she would look into it.

As she stared out the window she realized how late it had gotten. She would worry more later but for now she settled in and waited to arrive in Clover Town to finally see Natsu again.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Natsu spent the first five days and all his savings on fixing up his house. Happy had been confused to why Natsu was doing all his work. Natsu had also insisted that Happy not go to the guild since everyone assumed that he had already left on his jobs. He also told Happy that they needed a better house even though he refused to explain why the needed the extra room.

Natsu owned most of the land surrounding his home so he knocked down a few walls and expanded the place. He added an en suite to the master bedroom and another bathroom as well as three extra rooms. He knew that he would end up needing the place in the future.

He still had to furnish the new rooms but he had a feeling that Lucy would want to do the decorating. For now what he had was good enough. The house was bigger with a nice bath and shower and a fully equipped kitchen. He cleaned up all the junk as well. It was inhabitable and he knew that Lucy wouldn't be able to complain anymore since the house was no longer a dump as she once called it.

Thinking of her scolding him for not being able to keep the clean reminded him of Lucy and of kissing her. Before he left her and he knew in that moment that Lucy was the only girl that he would ever love like that and there was no way in hell that he was going to lose her (not again.)

The last time, they had both been so afraid to try. There were so many interruptions and misunderstandings that their relationship never moved in the direction that it was supposed to go in. Even though he knew that she had feelings for him, he wasn't ready and Natsu hated change. He didn't want to change the nature of his relationship with Lucy.

This time he wasn't going to let her or anyone else guess the status of their relationship. He was playing for keeps and he was determined to have her in his life and in his home for the rest of their lives. He had fought a war and she had stood by him come hell or high water. She loved him and he loved her and he could do nothing as she lay somewhere dying. He didn't think he would ever be able to just get over the fact that he was losing her. Not even seeing future Lucy die was as traumatizing as listening to her die and being unable to do anything.

He had waited long enough and now that he knew what the future was going to bring them. He was determined to spend as much time as he possibly could loving her and showing her that he loved her. There was no more time for second guessing and missed opportunities. He wanted a life with her and he was going to fight for that future. She was the reason he was able to stand and fight and this time he was going to make sure that she understood his feelings.

Then he realized that he had no money left, expanding the house had used up all his savings. Natsu decided to finally go on those jobs that he had taken. If he did everything right he would be able to replenish his savings. It would only take a few days to complete those jobs and they weren't very dangerous.

He was sure that by the time he was done it should be time to check on Mira's mission and he should be with Lucy in a few more days. He was extra careful and Happy had been quiet shocked when Natsu didn't use magic to take out the bandits that were on the road.

Natsu had already started his training by expanding his magic empting your container of magic completely was a bad idea that could kill a mage. If they were not careful and could often lead to magic deficiency disease. A mage had to have a certain amount of magic in their body to survive and the disease caused the body not to absorb anymore magic into their system leading to organ failure. Natsu emptied his magic container leaving him with just above the minimum he needed to survive. Then he beat up the bandits using only martial arts. This meant that without his destructive magic destroying everything in its path he got the full reward.

When the magic container in the body is brought down to that level, a person usually runs out of energy. The mage becomes unable to fight and either falls unconscious or doesn't have enough energy to move.

However Natsu was determined to be able to fight even though his magic was low. The exercise also allowed the container to expand, allowing ones magic reserves to grow and the person will be able to use magic for longer.

The magic container was a lot like a muscle the more you exercised it the stronger it became. However just like a muscle if you overworked it then it was possible to break or 'tear' the muscle. This usually led to mages suffering from magic deficiency diseases.

When exercising ones magic it was important to keep track of how much you used you magic so that you don't damage your magic container. This was one of the reasons why usually when mages expanded their magic they needed a partner/trainer to ensure that they didn't hurt themselves.

He got the idea about not using to magic all the time from Laxus. He remembered that back when he used to bug Laxus to fight with him the lightening mage never actually bothered to use his magic. Laxus used his strength to simply beat him into the ground, forcing Laxus to actually use his magic on someone usually meant that he was getting serious. Then the guild ended up a couple of destroyed towns but that wasn't the point.

Natsu managed to get the full reward because if he didn't use his magic. Then he realized that he couldn't go overboard and nothing ended up broken. Except for the road outside of the town which could easily be repaired. The damages were actually below what the people in the town had been expecting and they were all very grateful that he didn't destroy their town along with the bandits. Natsu couldn't help but a feel a bit pride at being able to help without making any more problems for the people of the town.

He could already feel his magic getting stronger and it was only the end of the first week of training that he had done. He knew that Lucy would be proud of him doing three jobs and not destroying a single thing. He couldn't help but chuckle whenever she would stress about her rent. Then he winced when he realized that it was probably his fault that she had been left with so little of the reward. She had plenty of reasons to kick his ass for doing that.

Then again Natsu had been a bit of an ass towards her when they first met. In his defense, he hadn't been trying to get on her nerves. He just liked her and didn't want to be away from her. Then he ended up coming across as immature and annoying but she loved him anyway.

Thinking back to who they were when they both met he couldn't help but chuckle. Lucy hadn't been perfect either. She wasn't a very good fighter, she had very little real life experience and she was a little lazy and afraid of taking on the big fish. He supposed he knew that she didn't like to tangle to very powerful enemies because she knew that logically she couldn't fight them on her own. In the end, she had also been young but they made each other better people.

Natsu taught Lucy not to give up and to believe in herself. He had given her confidence in her abilities and the strength to keep going even when things didn't seem like they were going to work out. She had taught him patience. He was still learning but she had calmed his fiery nature and taught him to live in the moment with her and to be thankful for the people that he had in front of him.

He always loved the guild but he had spent most of his time searching for Igneel and ignoring or being oblivious to the sufferings of his family and their baggage. It was only after he met her that he realized that loving his father didn't mean he couldn't live and laugh with the people in front of him now. He stopped searching so relentlessly for Igneel and paid more attention to the people around him. When he did go looking for his father she supported him then as well. He didn't forget the past but he didn't ignore his future and his present either.

He was currently waiting at the train station for her to arrive. He could already smell her scent which immediately lifted his spirits. He had been feeling like something was missing ever since he got back to this time period and it was because her scent wasn't constantly around him.

Natsu had spent so much time around Lucy that her scent had eventually become part of his scent so not having her around was like he was a missing a limb or something. It made him feel restless and it put him in a bad mood and not even beating up bad guys were helping him.

Lucy had been his partner ever since she had come to the guild and she was part of him. This time he wasn't going to let her go. When Lucy moved he moved as well. She was the sun and he kind of just orbited around her.

When he fought she was always right there next to him as well. He was strong because she there to encourage him that he could go on. He was allowed to be weak because she accepted his weakness and when she was happy so was he. She was his whole world and he didn't like to be so far away from her.

"Hey Natsu, why are we here?" asked Happy and Natsu smiled at his adopted son/best friend. He may or may not have forgotten that Happy technically didn't meet Lucy yet.

He honestly hoped that he wouldn't bother Lucy too much. Then again she loved him as much as he did and she always fed him. Happy did really care about Lucy even though he trolled her a lot but that was just his way of showing affection.

"When I went away I met a new friend and she's coming here now to meet up with us." He replied and Happy just looked at him weirdly.

Happy knew that he wasn't the brightest cat around but he did know Natsu better than anyone else in the world. He knew how his adoptive father behaved. He spent most of his time picking fights, eating or searching for Igneel. He was pretty sure the reason why he found his egg was because he off searching the caves in the forest of Magnolia looking for his father.

That technically wasn't true he had been training or at least punching a tree in an attempt to become stronger to win against Ezra and the egg kind of fell on his head giving him a concussion but no one mentioned that around him.

Natsu was a friendly person. He was kind to everyone he met unless they were bad mouthing his friends or the guild but he didn't really like strangers. They didn't get him the way that the people in the guild understood him. The only reason why they understood his weird behavior was because they had grown up with him.

Natsu was loud and he had more energy than he knew what to do with and he liked to fight. A lot of people thought of him as dangerous or insane but they knew better than to pick a fight with the 'Salamander of Fairy Tail.' They were afraid of him or something like that.

Natsu was kind yes, but he also didn't really care about just anyone's thoughts or feelings. He was tactless and a bit blunt when he spoke and sometimes some people got offended. They didn't realize that he wasn't trying to make them feel bad or insult them. He just kind of left any new people behind while he jumped from one situation to another. He didn't usually mean to offend anyone but unless they were family then they didn't really register to him.

It was one of the reasons why he didn't really have any friends outside the guild. Then again being friends with a mage was hard and the only people who really understood a mage was another mage so it wasn't all that surprising that Natsu didn't have many friends outside of his circle of people he had known since childhood. The people that he had grown up with in the guild.

Many people who met him when he went on jobs would always say that he was a strange kind boy and leave it at that. They would complain about the damages but since they weren't part of his guild it usually meant that he didn't really have to worry about them.

Natsu having a friend that wasn't part of the guild wasn't something that happened often. In fact he was pretty sure that it never happened before in the history of ever. Happy couldn't help but wonder what kind of weirdo had befriended him. He also wondered where or when that happened.

Natsu on the other hand was completely oblivious to the fact that Happy was thinking that there was something wrong with him. He caught sight of blonde hair and he knew that person had to be Lucy. She was wearing something that he never saw before but he had to admit, it was better suited for both traveling and battle. The material looked a lot tougher so it would probably provide some sort of protection if she got pushed around too much which always happened.

He lost count of the number of times her flimsy clothes had come apart during battle and then she usually ended up with clothes from the spirit world. It was also kind of nice that her boobs weren't hanging out anymore and the only skin he could see was around her belly. Much better than the open type of clothes that usually had perverts ogling her while she was walking on the road and trying to either see up her tiny skirts or spoke to her boobs instead of looking at her face when speaking to her even though she acted like she didn't care. She often sought comfort in knowing that he was close when people got too close for comfort.

Natsu never really understood why she wore clothes like that if she didn't like the attention. She once told him about how she used to dress when she was in the manor. She spoke of all the rules that she had to follow and how she often felt like she was puppet or a doll for the servants to dress up.

When she ran away she finally had the freedom to choose for herself and she sought clothes that would have given her father a heart attack. At the same time it had given her a sense of freedom, tangible proof that she was able to make her own choices regardless of what her father wanted for her. It also made it hard for people to recognize her.

He smiled at her because for the first time since they had ended up in this time Lucy seemed more comfortable with herself and more at peace. She wasn't trying to be someone else anymore or running from her past and trying to reinvent herself. She was just Lucy as she always wanted to be and he was happy that she got this opportunity with her father. She managed to resolve things with him also seemed to set her at peace so that she was comfortable in her own skin once again.

Lucy smiled brightly when she caught sight of his pink hair and immediately threw herself into his arms calling his name happily. Natsu didn't let her pull away, instead he held her tightly to his chest and picked her up a foot in the air and kissed her again.

He missed her and he only kissed her once before and it definitely wasn't enough. Now that she was here again and her scent was all around him like it was supposed to be. He finally felt like he had come home. He kissed her with all the love and happiness he had inside him because there was no way she was going to pretend like they didn't have that moment. They were together and he wanted her to understand that she was his.

Happy on the other hand was so shocked that he dropped his fish. He knew that some people in the guild dated like Laxus and Cana. Although they never had a partner for more than a couple of days even Gray went on a few dates now and then.

Nothing ever really came from them but Natsu was the one person in the guild that no one thought he would ever get a girlfriend. It wasn't because Natsu wasn't a lovable person. They assumed it because he never showed any interest in anyone. He knew that several people thought that Natsu didn't even know what sex was or what it meant to have a girlfriend but here he was with this girl that no one knew and he was kissing her.

Happy was pretty sure everyone was waiting for Natsu to just man up already and ask Lisanna to date him. Since no one ever thought that there would be someone else out there that could understand Natsu. There were even some bets that Lisanna would get fed up of waiting for him and ask him out on a date but no one ever thought that there would ever be another girl in his life. It seemed like this girl was the reason Natsu was acting so different and not destroying everything. Not that it was a bad thing just different but he supposed that Natsu was growing up and becoming more responsible.

"Luce I want you to meet my best friend and adopted son Happy."

Happy raised a paw and greeted the weird girl and she smiled happily at him and turned to Natsu, "Shall we go?" she asked and Happy still seemed more than a little bit lost.

"Where are we going Natsu?" he asked and Natsu patted his head when he climbed up onto his shoulder while taking Lucy's hand in his own.

"We're going to Clover Town. It has a good magical shop and someone told me that I'll be able to find a good book explaining how to use requip magic." Replied Lucy and Natsu looked at her strangely.

"Why would you want to learn that?" he asked her and Lucy explained what her father told her. She also showed him the bracelet and explained how it worked.

"You should exercise your magic so that you'll be able to use the staff and keep your gates open." He told her when she was done explaining her new weapon.

She nodded her head and replied, "I spoke to crux while I was on the train and he said that I could learn a few elemental spells. The spells won't work on the same level as your fire magic or Gray's ice magic but since the staff uses my celestial magic to power it. I could summon blasts of elemental energy from my spirits like Loke's magic is sun based so I can use it to create fire. Those things will drain my magic quickly and it won't be as strong as other mages who use caster magic."

Natsu merely shrugged, "The more tricks you have up your sleeve the better. Always remember your strength doesn't lie in a physical battle. Your strength is your intelligence and how you use your magic."

Lucy kissed his cheek and Natsu blushed when she did so and they both decided to ignore the fact that Happy was snickering into his paws. She couldn't help it, he just said something so sweet and honest and she knew it was true.

She would never be a powerhouse like Ezra or Mira but she didn't have too. If she fought smart then she could take on any opponent as long as she had enough magic and a few tricks up her sleeve like he said. Her magic was versatile and how she used it would make it powerful. There was no one thing that made her magic powerful, it was how she combined it and use it.

"I still don't know how to use the staff or the escrima sticks." She reminded him and the grin that he gave her actually sort of terrified her.

"I'll teach you and your spirits can teach you magic." He replied and Lucy knew that she was going to be covered in bruises and every muscle in her body was going to hurt by the time he was done with her.

Lucy went and bought the book on requip magic while Natsu traced Mira's scent. They were already in the forest for a couple of days now. Then again their job was to take on a monster known as the King of Beasts so that meant the creature was hiding in the forest.

Natsu and Lucy decided to camp in the forest but far away from where the Strauss siblings had set up their camp. They wouldn't interfere in the fight until they needed too since they didn't know what happened to make everything go so wrong. They didn't want to make things worse by getting involved too early so they waited on the tops of the mountains while Natsu listened in on their fight.

Mira did recon first and Natsu was impressed at how she tracked the beast. She checked out where the creature was hiding and she had a well thought out a plan but even Natsu could see that she was coddling her siblings. Mira was trying to keep Lisanna and Elfman out of the main areas of the fight and trying to take on the Beast mostly by herself.

He remembered that when she came home she said that she had been over confident and Lisanna paid the price. Natsu didn't understand what she meant at that time but looking at her plan he understood. She thought she didn't need help to take on the Beast and she had either underestimated how powerful the creature truly was or she had overestimated herself. She didn't have to keep her siblings out of the fight the way she wanted too.

Hopefully when they managed to save her Mira will realize that she has to train her siblings more and stop coddling them so much. The Strauss siblings were all really powerful and he was determined to make sure that they didn't spend two years mourning and lost without their sister.

Natsu decided to ensure that Mira took her siblings off to train after this train wreck of a mission. It could be something similar to what they had done for the grand magic games. If he timed it right he could get Gray and Ezra involved in taking on some intense training for a couple months and then promise to fight them all when they returned to the guild. It was really easy to fire up their tempers with some competition and the level they were currently at was nothing compared to how they powered up when they formed Team Natsu.

They waited for Mira to engage The Beast in combat and when the battle started heading towards the town Lisanna flew off to evacuate the town. Elfman supported Mira or at least he tried too but none of the souls that he had were powerful enough to do any damage. Happy only noticed Lisanna flying towards the town when Natsu pointed her out to him.

"Hey Happy isn't that Lisanna? Go after her see if she needs any help."

Happy saw the white haired beauty flying towards the town and took off after her. He didn't know that they were technically stalking the Take Over siblings but he want to help his adoptive mother as much as he could. Happy took off after her while Natsu and Lucy followed the huge form of Elfman. He had attempted the takeover not long after Lisanna had left to evacuate the town.

Lucy was stunned, this creature was huge, far bigger than the form that Elfman eventually managed to use during the Phantom Lord attack. No wonder Mira had been having a hard time, he was extremely strong and his hide seemed to be impenetrable. The monsters arms looked as huge as tree trunks and Mira seemed beaten to hell but she was still in her Satan Soul so Natsu waited a little longer. She was still fighting, trying to reach her brother and while the situation was bad, it wasn't life threatening to anyone yet. Mira still had enough magic and spirit to carry on fighting so he was only going to step in when she had nothing left.

"Are you sure you don't want to get involved yet?" asked Lucy and Natsu shook his head.

"This battle was the day that Mira lost all confidence in her abilities and with Lisanna gone she didn't have the strength to remake herself. She has to lose this fight. Mira was one of the strongest people in the guild. She could even go toe to toe with Laxus on a good day but that made her over confident and self-assured even a bit arrogant. She even went so far as to neglect her duties towards her siblings because she stopped training them and pushing them to the side. This forces her to see the consequences of her pride. She has to lose so that she can find the strength to stand up. You can only be better once you know defeat."

Lucy grimaced as Mira was thrown into a mountain and finally dropped her transformation. Lucy could see the horror in her eyes and for the first time since seeing the younger version of Mira she could finally see traces of the girl that she had known.

She lost the arrogant, haughty look that she had when she first faced the creature and now there was only despair. She was finally realizing the full consequences of making mistakes and she knew in that moment that Mira had hit her lowest point. This was Natsu wanted for her to understand that no matter how strong she was, she could only go so far alone. Now there was only one place for Mira to go and that would be to climb back to the top.

Lucy could faintly hear someone calling for Mira and she realized that Lisanna had returned which meant that in a few minutes she would try and reach Elfman by talking him down and it wouldn't work. Elfman had been shocked out of the takeover once he hurt her but that had been too late.

Lucy watched as Lisanna landed next to her wounded sister with Happy not far behind her but Mira didn't even notice the blue cat instead she started caution her sister of her mistake and then Lisanna stood before the insane creature that had once been her beloved brother.

Natsu and Lucy shared a look and he nodded in response to the question that she hadn't voiced. They both moved quickly, knowing that there was a very small window of time to save Lisanna from Elfman. Natsu launched himself off the cliff while Lucy changed into her Gemini star dress which allowed her to fly down the cliff as well.

Natsu was aiming for his head. He was hoping that if he hit him hard enough, he would be able to rattle the large creature and throw him off balance. Lisanna spread out her arms to shield her sister as she tried to reach her brother who had been lost to the mindlessness of the beast and was about to attack her. Natsu prayed that Lucy would be able to make it in time.

Lisanna faced him without fear staring him with a smile on her face even though the creature didn't show any signs of recognition towards her. His arm paused for a brief second and then swung towards her. Lisanna didn't even have the chance to dive out of the way. Mira screamed in horror as Elfman swung his tree trunk arm at her little sister when Lucy landed in front of the two sisters.

"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus." Cried out Lucy as she changed into her star dress Taurus and they both braced for the impact of his arm just as Natsu hit Elfman on the side of his head, throwing him off balance.

Lucy locked her arms and legs into place as she caught the tree trunk arm that would have tossed Lisanna into the forest like a rag doll. She felt Taurus next to her as he dropped his axe and did the same thing next to her, adding his strength to hers and protecting her from the impact.

Elfman however was just too strong, she couldn't hold him back completely even though she layered her magic over her body to absorb the impact. Taurus disappeared back into the celestial world as soon as Natsu knocked the beast off balance.

Lisanna lost all feeling in her legs and crumpled to the ground as Lucy was thrown five feet away from the siblings. Lisanna had just come very close to dying at the hands of her brother to protect her sister and he would have hit her if not the stranger in front of her. She was suddenly terrified but not of her siblings but of the situation that they had been put in. None of their missions had ever gone this wrong, death had never been this close.

Elfman lost the take over and fell unconscious, reverting back into his human self with the trade mark scar on his eye that he had when she met him in the future and at the same time Natsu managed to climb up to the crater that Mira had formed when she hit the mountain.

"Natsu." Whispered Lisanna.

Mira let her sister go and ran for her unconscious brother but Natsu didn't see Lisanna move towards him. His eyes zeroed in on the crumpled form of Lucy and he ran to her.

"Luce you alright?" he asked and Lucy barely opened her eyes.

The blonde girl smiled at him a little and replied, "Tired, took more magic than I thought it would to brace for an impact like that."

Natsu rolled his eyes and gathered her into his arms but Mira stopped him from leaving, "Natsu what were you doing here? Who is this?"

Natsu smiled at Mira, "I did a couple of jobs near the town and Luce wanted to buy a magic book from the shop in town and then we went camping. I heard you guys and came to see if you needed any help. I gotta go Mira. She needs to rest and you look like you need a healer so I'll see you guys back at the guild or sometime later."

"Thank you Natsu." She whispered and Natsu just smiled at her and nodded his head. He sent her the Fairy Tail unofficial sign as he carried Lucy away and he didn't notice the tear that rolled down Mira's cheek as he walked away.

'No matter where you are or how far apart we are, I'll always be watching over you.'

Lisanna didn't know what to say to him and before she could think of something he was already gone. She didn't know that girl and she wondered how she knew Natsu and why they were together. He had been acting odd lately so maybe the girl had something to do with it but for now she had more important things to worry about than his strange behavior and the girl that she had never seen before.

Natsu took Lucy back to their campsite and waited for her to wake up. It didn't take long for her to wake up. No more than an hour and then the two set of to the train station.

Lucy reminded him that her father wanted to see them before they went to the guild and they really needed to talk about what they were going to do now that they saved Lisanna from living on an alternate earth for two years. Natsu sighed, it was going to be a long train ride and an even longer night.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

AN: People have asked why I wrote their relationship as being so centered on each other and not worrying about their guild mates. Like Lucy not wanting to see them. Here's my reason- Natsu technically heard Lucy die and there was nothing he could do to save her. When I wrote this story at the beginning when Zeref is winning and Natsu's spirit is broken. He honestly believed that he had lost the love of his life. I think that gives me reason to keep them secreted away from the guild and him wanting to marry her immediately. He already lost her once he doesn't want it to happen again.

Lucy needs time to come to terms with the fact that her friends don't know her anymore and will look at her like a stranger. They both just need some time and I need them to do something while the timeline catches up to the beginning of the anime timeline.

"Now where are we going?" asked Happy as they boarded the train with Natsu grumbling about death machines and how this was cruelty and that Lucy should have mercy on him. He stood in front of the train and glared at it before pouting in Lucy's direction and almost begging her with his eyes to just let them walk back to the manor.

Lucy rolled her eyes at his complaining and flashed her signet ring once more allowing them to board the train for free. They needed to go back and see what her father wanted to speak to them about before they went back to the guild. Her home was a pretty secure place for the two of them to plan their next move without anyone overhearing their plans. Natsu would just have to deal with the train because it was a six hour train ride and a two day trip if they walked and there was no way she was going to walk.

Lucy glanced outside the window and noticed that the sun was high in the sky and she could already feel sweat beading her neck. There was no way that she was going to spend two days walking in this heat when they could ride the train for free. She pulled Natsu down so that he could lay his head in her lap. It would all be over in a couple of hours she said mostly to herself since Natsu had his head buried in her lap. Lucy settled herself in the seat, handed a fish to Happy to keep him busy and pulled out the book that she bought on requip magic.

The Strauss siblings had already left the town wanting to get away from everything that happened. They also needed to report to the Master. They had left a couple hours after Mira had seen a healer. Lisanna tried to insist that they wait and check on Natsu however since he was unhurt Elfman agreed with Mira, They needed to leave and Natsu was looking after someone. Lisanna gave in knowing that she would be able to speak to him at the guild.

"We're going to visit my father Happy and then we're going to the guild. I always dreamed of joining Fairy Tail and now I finally get the chance to do so." Replied Lucy.

She had nearly forgotten to answer Happy as she got lost in her own thoughts. Natsu turned green and the train started moving. She ran her fingers through his hair fondly and rolled her eyes. She still couldn't believe that his weakness was a moving vehicle, honestly it was just so ridiculous.

She glanced down at her bare hand and almost frowned. It was odd to her to see her hand unmarked with a guild mark. She missed it more than either of them knew. For so long the mark had been a constant reminder of her family and the life that she had created despite everything that she had been through. She found a home in Fairy Tail and now it was like that had been stripped from her.

Her friends wouldn't even remember her and it pained her to think of herself as a stranger to them. Lucy wasn't sure that she could face them just yet. To her it had been just yesterday that everyone had known her, fought beside her and now she would have to start from the beginning. However she couldn't help but be grateful for the second chance that she had with her father.

She had for a long time tried so desperately to make sure that no one recognized her as Jude Heartifila's daughter. She ignored parts of who she was because she didn't want to associate any part of herself with him and the upbringing that he gave her. It was petty in a way but at the same time she had been desperate to carve out a name for herself, to make her own identity.

This was the only time in her life that she had made peace with the parts of her personality that came from him like her stubbornness and her intelligence. She no longer felt like she had to try and change herself into someone completely different to create distance between them now. She was at peace with the parts of her parents that she could recognize in herself and the woman that she had become. This realization gave her a sense of freedom that she never realized she had before.

"We'll talk when we have more privacy and you can contribute to the plans Natsu." She whispered in his ear as he groaned in pain as his stomach lurched very painfully.

As much as they needed to make some plans about what was happening they couldn't afford to talk in front of Happy. As crazy as the damned cat made her she knew he didn't really mean any harm but he couldn't keep a secret to save his damned life. They could only talk about this when no one was around so she watched the trees pass as they travelled. Before she knew it she passed out, ignoring the book on the seat beside even though she really wanted to start reading the basics of the magic.

Lucy was still so tired from pooling all her magic into her arms and legs so that she could catch Elfmans arm. Her magic power was back to normal but her bruises had bruises and her muscles were aching. He was just so much stronger that he had managed to rattle her all the way down to her bones. She took a well-deserved nap for the next six hours, promising herself that as soon as she was done talking to her father and planning with Natsu she would start working on her magic.

She woke up when the train came to a stop and she dragged Natsu off the train and towards her home. Happy and Natsu were wowed by the extravagance of her home just like the last time. They didn't have long to admire the huge house because as soon as she entered they were both separated by her maids and sent to their own rooms with orders to bathe and dress in the clothes provided and then meet her father in his office. Lucy smiled at their attentiveness and their excitement. She had a feeling that they already knew why her father had sent for her.

Lucy sighed as they dolled her up in the fancy dress and twisted her hair into a complicated hairstyle. She knew that it meant a lot to her father to see her dressed as a Lady of her status even if it was just for the time that she spent in the Manor and it did help to keep up appearances for their family. Her father had not been wrong in the previous time line when he said that she had been uncaring of the consequences of her selfishness.

Lucy running away had many consequences on her father and their family business. It was something that she never thought would happen. Then again she had been very foolish and naïve when she first ran away. The consequences of her decisions never really crossed her mind. Looking back there were so many situations that she could have and should have handled differently.

She had been young and still learning, now she was a little older and wiser. Now she had the experience to know the consequences of all her decisions. She hoped that she would do better this time, not just by her father but to all of Fairy Tail as well. She had caused them a lot of trouble but they loved her anyway. She would always be grateful for their fierce love of their nakama.

When she had run away the first time, Jude kept it quiet so that he wouldn't draw attention to the fact that his daughter had decided to run away. No one knew she was traveling the world as an unmarried mage which was probably why no one recognized her.

When the people of upper society realized what she had abandoned her lavish lifestyle for the life of a mage she had been seen as a 'ruined' woman. No rich family who knew what she had done would have accepted her and when her father had run into money troubles everyone turned their backs on him.

At the time, she hadn't cared what they thought of her or whether or not they accepted her for a match for their sons. She knew when she left that no one from the upper society would take her as their wife and that she would never be the 'Lady of the Manor' ever again. She had made peace with those facts. She had never wanted that life in the first place, to her it had been a good riddance.

She had chosen to walk the path of a mage and she never had any intention of going to back to this lifestyle. She didn't really care if her reputation had been ruined or not. The women of upper society had been held to such ridiculous standards that she didn't even care what type of behavior that they thought was scandalous. She just wanted out, to be free to make her own choices and forge her own path in life and Fairy Tail had given her that opportunity.

When they refused to help her father, again she didn't care. She had been so sure that the only thing that he ever cared for was his money that she had been glad that it was gone. All it ever brought her was misery. She hadn't even known that he was losing everything until he showed up asking for money and once it was gone there was no getting it back. Neither of them belonged to the upper society anymore and she had felt relieved that it was all gone.

While Lucy was all dressed up in her fancy dress with frills and lace Natsu was in a suit. She bit her lip when she saw him to hide her moan because he looked so damn fine in that suit. He didn't bother putting the tie on.

Natsu actually had no idea how to wear one and he left the collar open but he put on the jacket and went to meet Lucy. There had been a maid waiting for him outside his door to guide him through the halls of the large manor and Natsu couldn't help but frown. It was easy to see how Lucy had been lonely in this place. The manor had a sense of emptiness that you could feel in your bones.

Lucy was never really happy in this life but there was a time when she had been happy here. In this house that she had shared with her mama and papa, she had many good memories. Jude knew that she honestly didn't mind running the business.

Lucy had been taught from a young age to be able to manage the family estate. If he left the empire to her, she wouldn't need to expand it any more. The business was large and extremely profitable. She could just rake in the profits and continue her life as a mage until she found someone who had a passion for business and actually wanted to take over the company. She loved her father and even if things hadn't been great between them, it was definitely better now and she wanted to make him proud.

"You look so pretty." Said Natsu as he took in her pretty pink dress and the blush on her cheeks and Lucy couldn't help but respond with her own compliment, "You look very handsome all dressed up."

Natsu ruffled his hair nervously because he thought he looked odd. He only wore something like this once during that party that the Princess threw after the Eclipse Gate thing. Lucy however said he looked nice and he knew that wouldn't lie to him. He could feel himself blush at her words.

Natsu caught a glance at them in the mirror and he couldn't help but smile. They made a really good couple and now that they were all dressed up he couldn't help but think that they looked like the Lord and Lady of the Manor. He also knew that he definitely didn't know how to play that role. Happy had been laughing at his new look as soon as he put the pants on. Natsu threw a pillow at him and went to find Lucy.

They both entered the study and Lucy kissed her Fathers cheek in greeting. He shook hands with Natsu and gestured for them both to sit down. This was not going to be an easy conversation for him or for Lucy. He had promised that he wouldn't meddle in her life but the truth was that he really didn't see many other options here. He really did want her to be happy and he hoped that this would bring her great happiness.

"I know you're both wondering why I asked for you both to return here before going to the guild. The truth is that Lucy you're probably not going to like what I'm going to say. I believe that since you both love each other so this would naturally be the next step in your relationship."

Lucy's eyes narrowed and she stopped smiling, what was he going to ask her to do that was not going to make her happy and why did it involve Natsu?

"I would like for you both to get married." Said Jude and Lucy's jaw dropped.

Natsu well he didn't move, his expression didn't change either so no one had any idea what he was thinking. On the inside though once he processed the words he did a little happy dance in his head because he had absolutely no problem with this. It was sooner than he thought it would be because he assumed it would take him longer to convince her to make such a permanent decision. He already knew what he wanted and he didn't see any reason not to put a ring on her now.

"Father why would you ask for something so big so soon?" cried Lucy and Jude tried to smile reassuringly at her and calm her ire and unsurprisingly he failed.

"Lucy, you are still my heiress even if you do not intend to live here or marry for more money. I have already made preparations in the event of my death. There are several people that I trust to run the company with minimal work for you to do. If one of your children wishes then you can pass on the company to them when the time comes."

He stopped for a moment, looking outside his study and into the garden where his beloved once spent all her time. There were days when he glanced down and would see his wife with their little daughter in her arms. They would both smile and wave in happiness while he looked down on them. It had been so long since he had seen that bright smile on his daughters face. He had a long way to go and many mistakes to make up for and he knew it.

"This company wasn't just built using my money. It was your mothers as well but it is a family owned business. Once I make the statement that the company will be passed to whoever you choose to succeed it, you will once again be harassed into signing a betrothal. Not to mention your reputation has to be protected."

Lucy made a face that the word 'reputation' but she did understand that doing things the right way meant that she couldn't completely cut this part of her life out.

Jude continued his explanation unaware of his daughters thoughts, "The road you have chosen will lessen the social obligations but your reputation is a powerful thing. Once tarnished it cannot ever again shine. You cannot allow yourself to come under question. There will be enough talk about your chosen profession."

Jude waved away Natsu's protests as he continued to speak, "You can defend yourself but you will not have a leg to stand on if you are unmarried, travelling the world with your male friends. They will not care for the truth or how you see it and we both know that."

He knew Lucy understood even if she didn't like what he had to say. Lucy knew that the first time she had run away her father kept it quiet. However after the whole Phantom Lord thing happened everyone knew that she refused to marry Jurnelle and that she had become a mage.

When they came after him for retribution no one was willing to help him out. She had inadvertently destroyed the business by shaming him and disgracing the Heartfilia family in upper society and the fact that she became a mage was somehow even worse. Mages never had the best reputations in upper society and a high borne lady becoming one of them had been one of the biggest insults.

Jude passed over a contract to Lucy while she digested what he said. He knew that she would need some time to talk to Natsu and come to terms with everything that he was asking her to do.

Before she could try to refuse he carried on speaking, "Then there is your reputation to think about. If you want to become a mage that's fine I've made my peace with it. However running off with a random mage is different from standing beside your husband."

The look he gave her reminded her of her old governess who taught her all her responsibilities, "You becoming a mage can be dealt with but if your character comes into question you will have no peace from these vultures. The two of you have been through so much together already and with a war coming you both should seize the opportunity for happiness at every opportunity. Think about it, talk it over and we'll talk again in the morning."

Lucy had to admit that he had a good point. In this society the only thing a woman was good for was marrying and birthing an heir. However if she pursued the life of a mage with her husband then no one could accuse her of living immorally.

Her father leaving the business in his bloodline would only make sense. She would be marrying a man of 'lesser status' but no one could accuse her of doing anything wrong even though she didn't care what they thought of her life choices.

Natsu followed Lucy in a zombie like state and he couldn't help but be excited. Marrying Lucy would make her his for the rest of their lives and that was something that he had been dreaming of for far too long but she didn't seem happy and that made him even more worried. Was it because she didn't want to marry him?

He had been planning on having Lucy living with him instead of getting separate places but living together was the next best thing to being married. He wanted her by his side for the rest of his life but she didn't seem to want the same thing as him.

She had been refusing ever since her father had brought it up. He knew that it was supposed to be more romantic than this but did it really matter? He supposed that it was sort of out of the blue but after everything they had been through, he just didn't want to lose her again.

"Are you not happy Lucy?" he asked and she looked at him like he was insane.

Lucy was pretty sure that Natsu had lost his bloody mind. If you forget the fact that they didn't even have a plan for the war that was coming in the next few years. The fact that they didn't have any idea what the effects their changes would have on the timeline. It was still an insane idea without the insanity of the usual craziness that they dealt with.

Then there was the more pressing issue of the fact that they never actually spoke about their relationship and their feelings for each other. They had shared two kisses and held hands and complimented each other. When she thought back about it they were acting like they were dating ever since they arrived in the past but that didn't mean that they were on the same page.

Then again Natsu was not a person for words and long conversations. He liked to keep things simple. He wanted what he wanted and then he did his best to protect and keep those things. It didn't matter if they were talking about people or possessions. Natsu was someone who always knew what he wanted so if he kissed her once then it probably meant that he wanted her forever because he didn't bother with playing games but she still couldn't wrap her head around it.

"Why aren't you mad about this? He basically said that if I left without marrying you people would think I was a whore. That if I wanted to go with you then we would have to get married." She replied and Natsu growled when she called herself a whore. He didn't like anyone even Lucy herself degrading herself.

"Isn't that what happened when you ran away the first time? All your rich friends acted like they didn't know you or you brought shame on him or something like that."

Natsu remembered that after her father lost all her money she told him that the reason why he couldn't get any of his rich friends to help was because she ran away and broke his promise to the other family. The other rich people felt like he wasn't worth helping. The family name had been dragged through the mud basically and no one was willing to associate themselves with him anymore.

The upper society was a pit of vipers and as soon as someone put one step out of line they would be cut from society. It didn't matter who they once were or had. Those people were only out looking for themselves. They were only too happy to see a family as wealthy as the Heartifila's fall from grace because it gave them the opportunity to rise in station.

Lucy had to admit that he had a point because some of the few friends of her family all told her that what she had done was shameful but she couldn't find it in herself to care. She had found what she had been looking for so long and now that things were better between them she didn't want her actions to impact negatively on him. Back then she had felt guilt but in the end she had just been so angry at her father for all his short comings that she just didn't care what happened to him.

"Are you fine with getting married for a reason like this?" asked Lucy confused about why he was so calm about this.

She could understand that he knew that she didn't want her father to suffer because of her choices but this was a big step and they hadn't had much time as a couple. Shouldn't he want more time to spend as a couple so that they could be sure that they worked as one? Then again they were never very normal and they had spent all their time together. They were partners and best friends and she remembered once she read somewhere that explained love as a friendship set on fire.

Their relationship was strong enough to survive everything that had been thrown at it and now they were together did it really matter so much when they decided to get married?

Natsu just shrugged, "I don't care about why he wants us to get married but being able to call you my wife is something that I have waited to be able to do for so long. If you were my wife that would also make you my family. It wouldn't be like the rest of the guild but you were my partner for so long so being my life partner doesn't really seem to be such a big difference. I want you forever and being my wife means that we'll be together forever."

Lucy didn't know what to say to that. She thought that he was thinking about it in a too simplistic type of way, "We haven't even dated Natsu not really. We don't truly know if work together as a couple and marriage is supposed to be about love."

Natsu just shrugged and rolled his eyes. Lucy was over thinking everything and she wasn't listening to her heart. Everything that he did, every choice that he made were based of his instincts and they never led him wrong. Everything in him was telling him that Lucy was meant to be his wife.

"Do we really have to date for years and years to know that you love someone? I can't imagine my life without you and I don't want too. We already do everything together. I would die for you Luce and I know you would do the same, if that isn't love then what is?"

Lucy just stared at him. She didn't know how to answer that and at the same time she knew that he was right. Natsu suddenly became very focused and very serious, "I love you Lucy. I've been in love with you ever since you jumped out of that tower calling my name. I only understood what it meant months later but I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you and knowing what we know about the future? I want to tie myself to you in every way possible so will you marry me?"

Natsu never confessed to her, not like this. They shared some stolen moments that were mostly ruined. There were some misunderstandings and then when they got thrown into the past he had kissed her. He didn't confess like this before, no one had ever looked at her in this way. This was him telling her exactly what he felt and what he wanted from her and what he saw for their future.

She had never tried to put her feelings into words before because that would have changed their relationship. If it changed then there was the possibility that they would crash and burn and she hadn't been willing to risk losing him. Then they got tossed into the past and he kissed her and it was as easy breathing and his arms felt like she was home. He was her home and no matter where he went she knew that she follow, they were two parts of one whole.

When they came back, things might not have changed for anyone else but their history came back with them. It didn't matter if anyone else didn't know what they shared or went through. The fact was that they remembered. They had lived it and there were several lifetimes in the adventures that they had survived together.

Natsu was standing here in her home with her fathers blessing asking her to go on a whole new adventure with him and there was no way that she could say no. They could figure it out later but a piece of paper wouldn't really change anything between them because the bond that they shared it was forever. They had already seen the end of the world and this time they didn't want any more lost chances and misunderstandings.

Natsu knew that this probably was moving fast but he had seen and heard her die. It wasn't something that he was willing to ever go through again. If he really thought about it then he had technically lost her twice. Future Lucy had died and he was pretty sure she was nearly dead before Zeref hit them with that spell. He just refused to lose her again before he ever had the chance to be with her.

The next morning they signed their marriage license and Jude gave them both a pair of rings. A simple gold band for Natsu and for Lucy he got her a simple gold ring with a pink diamond set in a the infinity symbol of white diamonds. It was elegant and simple and more than enough. They exchanged rings in her fathers study and he simply said, "Send me an invite when the two of you decide to have a real ceremony."

Lucy kissed her fathers in a heartfelt goodbye and he gave Natsu a hard glare and then he nodded his head, "Take care of my daughter, son."

Natsu shook the older mans hand and gave him his famous fanged grin and replied, "I promise, Father."

Lucy giggled at the look of shock on her fathers face and the smug grin on Natsu's face. She knew that he was going to enjoy riling him up and getting under his skin. They waved goodbye and finally started their journey towards their home.

They were on the train back to Fairy Tail within the next two hours. They already had planned their next move, it had been an extremely productive night in the end. It was decided that Lucy was not going to join the guild until at least next year when they would reform team Natsu. The reason for that was because once she was introduced to the guild they would never get a moments peace from anyone and then they wouldn't get a chance to train either.

Lucy also had a more personal reason for wanting to keep some distance from the guild. She didn't think that she was ready to look at her friends, people that she had fought beside and nearly died for and have them not know her. None of them remembered her and it would take a long time to recraft their relationships. Lucy just wasn't ready to be a stranger to those that she thought of as family.

Natsu was going to teach Lucy how to use her weapons. Then they would both do some magical strength training and he would a way to force Ezra, Gray, Mira, Lisanna and Elfman to join him. He didn't want to use such a disaster of a mission against them.

It was sort of a low blow but he knew that if challenged Mira and pointed out all the ways her siblings could have taken out the monster if they had worked as a team she would get competitive. Then she would set out to train and probably take her siblings along with her. Ezra would probably get involved since it was Mira they were talking about and he could probably pull Gray into it as well.

His goal was to force everyone to take a short break from going on missions all the time and focus on their magic and their training. He was sure that with the promise of a fight which would determine who was the strongest when they all returned would get their blood pumping. He wasn't sure how successful his plan would be but he was hoping that they would all just go ahead with his plan.

Lucy took the idea further and decided that while they were all occupied. Natsu could talk to Mystogan and determine what he wanted to do about the whole anima thing. Depending on his answers they could figure out what to do with their Jellal and how to make sure the whole Tower of Heaven thing never happens. There was no way in hell that they were going to let Ezra go through that drama.

To be honest in the end their main priority was getting as many people as possible to train as hard as they could. Fairy Tail had many powerful mages but compared to the twelve bastards that they would end up facing they were pathetically out of their league.

Lucy wasn't sure if she wanted to lose those seven years on Tenrou but she couldn't help but imagine the amount of changes that would take place if they weren't sealed away. Then again she had a feeling that some things just wouldn't be able to be changed.

Lucy had been researching time magic as much as possible but most of the books only spoke about theories. There was supposedly no one powerful enough to change time in such a drastic manner. All the books said the same things, while smaller events could be changed there would always be fixed points in history. Some things just had to happen and no matter what a person did those events would always come to pass even if they didn't happen in the exact same way.

They weren't Gods and no matter what they did it was possible that some things would happen no matter how hard they tried to stop it. Lucy hated the fact that she wasn't sure what those fixed events would even be and she had no way to find out.

There were several demons and creations of Zeref that Team Natsu had faced before the war. The lullaby flute, R-system in the Tower of Heaven, Nirvana, Grimoire Heart, Acnologia and Tartaros were all linked directly or indirectly linked to Zeref.

That meant that those were probably things that they wouldn't be able to avoid even if the battles turned out easier. They stepped up their game it wouldn't change the fact that nothing would happen in the same exact way. Which meant that while they could try and protect the guild from as much as possible they wouldn't be able to stop everything bad that happened.

"Gildarts will show up in a few days and then he'll take that hundred year quest were he loses pieces of his body." Said Natsu as Lucy looked around the new house and smiled to herself.

"Do you want to stop him from facing Acnologia?" asked Lucy and Natsu nodded his head.

"I think I should tell him that Cana is his daughter. They carry the same scent, I just didn't really know what it meant so I never said anything but they smell like father and daughter."

Lucy bit her lip, it meant a lot to Cana to introduce herself to the man as his daughter and she didn't want to take that from her but at the same time it would lessen a lot of pain it he just knew already.

"He might stick around and train her. The last time he found out that she was his daughter they went on jobs together and Cana really upped her game with his help. I know you don't want to get involved and ruin the father and daughter moment but we need to think about the training everyone needs. Cana could join him on a shorter less dangerous mission and learn a couple tricks."

Lucy couldn't deny the fact that he was right about that. Then there was the whole Laxus issue and she really didn't know what they were going to do about him. He was just being an asshole but he really did love the guild. In a twisted way he was really just trying to help the guild.

The only problem was that he couldn't understand what the guild meant to people. Maybe they could get Mystogan to drag his ass off and beat some sense into him with Natsu's help. She sighed, a lot of their plans included Mystogan and she couldn't help but wince at that thought. They didn't really know him very well but she hoped that he would be willing to stick around and help them.

Natsu kissed her cheek and reminded her that they really needed to get started on her training. For now the couple decided to stop making plans since they could only deal with so much at one time. Natsu dragged her off into the forest to teach her how to use her new weapons.

She was good enough with that whip so she didn't need his help there but she did need help with martial arts since she didn't know anything more than the basics of that. He set up a balancing beam and told her to stretch so he didn't hurt her permanently.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

When Mirajane stumbled into the guild covered in bandages and her arm in a sling everyone stopped and stared. It had been a long time since the girl had returned to the guild that beaten up and injured. There was also the fact that Elfman had a new scar and Lisanna just looked tired.

The girl was covered in bruises and scratches but Mira seemed to have taken the brunt of the injuries in short they all looked like they went through hell and somehow managed to come out the other side.

The Master let out a sigh of relief that they all managed to come back alive. Even though it looked like Mira's pride had taken a harsh beating but it was also more than that. He hadn't been too worried when she took the job but at the same time Mira's over confidence was starting to worry him.

He was an old man and he knew the dangers of believing that there was no one out there that could defeat you. Mira had for a while now been looking at herself as invincible and that would not end well for her or her siblings. He had seen over confidence be the downfall of some good people and he hoped that Mira would not be one of them.

It seemed like this job had become a huge eye opener. He knew that the job had gone south before they called to check in. The hospital alerted all guild masters if one of their members found themselves in their care. It was a safety measure since many mages didn't have any other family.

He studied Mira when she returned there was something new in her eyes, something that he hadn't seen in her in a long time. She had known defeat and it probably had never tasted so bitter because she could have lost more than just a fight. She could have lost one of her siblings. She had learned a harsh lesson, one that only time and experience could teach.

As much as he hated to see the blood of his children he couldn't help but be glad that she had learned this lesson without losing anyone. This could have turned out very differently. The guild had come very close to mourning one of their own.

He called the Strauss siblings to him and the rest of guild listened carefully as they explained what happened during their mission but several things were worrying the master. He knew that Natsu had taken jobs near the town but why was he there?

He had received letters from the people who requested the job done. They all were thankful and he somehow managed not to damage anything but he should have left a day before the Strauss siblings attacked the creature.

"Natsu managed to save Lisanna?" he asked and the siblings nodded when Lisanna said something else.

"There was someone else with him. A blonde girl and I think she was a celestial spirit mage. When she blocked the attack, she landed in front of me. She opened a gate using a golden key and I heard her call the spirit Taurus."

The master narrowed his eyes, "A celestial spirit mage is rare. There hasn't been one of considerable power since Karen from Blue Pegasus passed away. She also holds a key to the zodiac and no one heard of her. That's a little strange."

Mira narrowed her eyes, "Master why is it strange?"

Makarov was silent for a moment before deciding that the information wasn't anything dangerous or something that she wouldn't be able to find out on her own so he replied.

"Celestial spirit mages often draw attention. To open a golden gate takes a lot of magic power. It may look easy but to tear open a hole in space and time, to punch a hole into the spirit world and hold that spirit in this world is not an easy task. Especially when you consider the fact that as the spirit uses its power, the mages power also drains. The Spirit is only as powerful as its owner."

Some nodded their head as they knew this, others were only vaguely interested as the master continued to explain, "Opening one gate is hard. Opening two gates is almost unheard of but there have been some mages capable of doing it. To open three is said to be forbidden for it will destroy the mage as the amount of magic needed will tear the mages body apart. The keys are rare, expensive as well. Normally a mage who uses the keys will draw attention."

Ezra narrowed her eyes at his explanation, "Do you think its strange that no one has heard of this girl?"

He just shrugged, "Some celestial mages like to keep a low profile not wanting to draw enemies towards their keys. She might just be one of them. Many dark guilds would pay assassins to kill the girl and steal her keys for themselves or just to sell it. Her magic isn't something seen every day."

Makarov took a sip of his beer before he continued, "It's a type of magic that has been boarding on lost magic for many generations as only one or two mages wield the magic in the same generation. At least those who use the gold keys are rare. Many have some silver keys and never become mages because their spirits lack defensive and offensive abilities. The gold key users are targeted but they can become powerful mages."

Gray couldn't but ask, "So who is she? How does she know Natsu?"

Lisanna just shrugged, "He said that he needed to take her to rest because she used too much magic. We can ask him when he returns."

They waited a few more days until Natsu showed up at the guild. He was wearing leather fingerless gloves. That was strange the gloves covered up to his knuckles. Natsu never showed an interest in wearing gloves before but the truth was that he didn't want to take off his wedding ring. It was actually Happy's idea to cover it up. He made sure they were flame resistant as well.

Mira thanked him quietly for his help but Natsu just smiled at her, "You would have won if you didn't try to take it on yourself you know."

Mira immediately got mad and Master narrowed his eyes at Natsu but he didn't notice and continued talking, "Elfman could have provided a good distraction while you and Lisanna could have targeted his head and spine taking care of business. You just didn't want to put them in the line of danger."

Mira grabbed him by the front of his shirt and growled out, "Of course I don't want them in danger."

Natsu hit her hand away and took a step back, "You're holding them back. Elfman managed to do a full body beast soul takeover. It didn't work right on a creature as powerful as the King of Beasts but he is ready to try other creatures less powerful than that like a weretiger or lizardman."

He narrowed his eyes at her as she clenched her hands into fists. He ignored all the signs of her anger because the truth was a bitter pill to swallow. She needed to get her ass out of the guild and get to training but she also needed to remember that her siblings were mages as well. They could take care of themselves but only if she let them so he continued.

"Lisanna managed to hold a takeover for over an hour. After clearing out the town and she managed to fly back to you. She's ready to try more advanced techniques and you as their elder sister should be teaching them. They are mages and you guys are a team. You cannot protect them from life and if you didn't notice you trying to protect them nearly got Lisanna killed."

Mira growled at him and attacked and for the first time Natsu sensed her coming. He hadn't been able to do it when he was younger and by the time he thought he would have a fighting chance against her she had already quit fighting. This time everything seemed to moving in slow motion or maybe she just wasn't as fast as she would become.

He grinned at the knowledge that he could finally fight the feared Demon. Natsu ducked under her fist and round house kicked her backwards into the wall of the guild. He ignored the gaps of shock and he simply told her, "Don't get mad at me for telling you the truth. Take them away for a little while, train them do be better so that something like this never happens again. I might not be there next time to save her so make sure that she doesn't need saving."

Ezra picked her jaw up from the floor and looked at Natsu. He seemed different somehow he felt more grown up and his magic was different. He seemed more powerful. He was more confident and less childish. It was like he had grown up overnight because she was sure that he hadn't been like this the last time that they saw him.

No one could even tell him that he was wrong because everything that he said was technically true. All he was doing was pointing out her mistakes and she didn't like that. He wasn't trying to be cruel either and Ezra wondered when he got so mature and how she had missed it. This was something that she would have expected from the Master not from Natsu.

"Natsu, you shouldn't be holding that against them." She reminded him and merely rolled his eyes.

"I didn't do it to sound mean. They really are powerful and they could do better if she stopped coddling them and actually trusted their abilities. You know if Mira goes away to train her siblings she might end up being more powerful than you."

Mira immediately declared that they were going to train as soon as she thought of finally beating Ezra. Mira didn't notice both her siblings looking at each other nervously and Lisanna face palmed. She wanted to talk to Natsu about the girl and now they were going away for who knew how long.

Ever since he got to the guild, she kept trying to voice the question but something always got in the way. Natsu and Mira got into a fight, then Erza started talking to him and then Mira got an idea in her head and once that happened she couldn't be stopped. It looked like she was going to have to wait to ask him about the girl that saved her. She owed her at least thank you and she couldn't help but want to know who the girl was and how she knew Natsu.

Ezra immediately declared that she was going to train once Mira had made her own announcement. Natsu then caused even more chaos when he called out something else, "You know she could claim to be the better teacher. Since she is going to train her siblings, you could take Gray as a disciple. He doesn't really have a partner and you guys make a good team."

It was true that while Gray didn't have a specific partner he did go on many missions with Ezra. The two of them were able to work well together. They were both level headed people and when they worked together they never ended up fighting each other. Unlike when Gray and Natsu worked together and got on each other's nerves.

They were a good team. They had similar thoughts on strategies which made it easier for her to work with him. When they worked together the damages weren't too bad either resulting in them almost always getting the full reward. The master was always happy when they managed to limit the amount of damage because it saved the guild a lot of money.

Natsu smiled as Mira dragged her siblings off while Ezra dragged a protesting Gray out the door behind her. He could also hear Gray claiming that he would get his revenge on Natsu when he returned. Natsu knew that there would probably some sort of revenge and that he should be worried. However at the moment he couldn't help but pat himself on the back since he managed to get them to go off to train without having too much difficulty.

Gray honestly didn't know how or why he had been dragged into this conversation. Or how Ezra managed to grab him and drag him out of the guild or where his pants were currently but he knew he was in this mess because of Natsu. Somehow ash for brains managed to get two of the most powerful women in the guild to go on training trips to get even stronger.

He resisted the urge to cry or face palm because seriously? Who needed those demons to be stronger? Where was the war or the army that Natsu wanted them to completely decimate single handily? He didn't want to go anywhere but at the same time he valued his life so he crossed his arms as he was dragged out of the guild vowing to knock one of Natsu's teeth out when he got back.

He figured a couple weeks of training and Ezra would let him go. Besides it had been a long time since he went up to the mountains and tested his abilities. It would be a good idea to get away for a little while. He had enough money saved up and he didn't have to go on many jobs. He just hoped that Ezra would get bored of him in a couple of weeks and let him come back home to kick Natsu's ass.

Natsu on the other hand knew that when they returned it would hard to have them keep up their training. No one who didn't think that a war was coming any time soon would want to spend all their free time training. The only reason why he and Lucy were so fired up about it was because they knew what was coming for them. He supposed that once everyone returned and he introduced Lucy, he could propose that they do team training.

They only ever fought in synch a couple of times. The time they fought with Hades being at the forefront of his mind but other than that they spent most of their time getting in each other's way and causing a lot of damage. If he could convince them that they needed to learn to fight as a team he could ensure that they got more training done without knowing while they did a couple of jobs.

It didn't take long for the guild to calm down once both the Demon and the Titania left the guild. Natsu disappeared during the chaos. The days passed in relative peace with so many guild members gone. Natsu showed up every now and then to take a couple of jobs.

Whenever someone asked him what he was so busy doing he claimed that he was busy with his training. Without Mira, Lisanna, Ezra or Gray around there wasn't many people that would look for him for too long. The truth was that he was busy training Lucy and he didn't have much time to go to the guild. He also didn't want people to ask about Happy. The cat just didn't know how to keep secrets.

Lucy had come far in the month that they spent together. She was working on powering the staff with her magic. She still couldn't use it more than three times and she hadn't figured out how to use elemental spells. She did know that she would have to enlarge her magic container before she could try and use the spells.

Lucy had gotten faster and she was actually force to reckon with her new weapon. She switched from whip to staff form so quickly that he was getting a lot bruises during their spars. It was a far cry from her not being able to stand on the beam for more than a few minutes before losing her balance and hitting the ground. She was also flexible and nimble which meant that while Natsu relied on strength, she relied on speed. She was quickly developing her own fighting style.

He was currently stalking the guild waiting for Gildarts to show up. Ezra and Gray were gone off on an S class mission and then they were going to train in the mountains near there. Apparently it was high enough for there to be snow the perfect place for Gray to get some training done. Ezra thought that training in a new climate would be good for her and they both had someone to spar with. He also heard that Erza needed a bit of backup on the S-class mission. Mira had taken her siblings into a forest rich with both beasts and animals for them to learn new souls and train their magic.

When Lisanna 'died' the last time a couple months later Gildarts showed up. After getting the news he left on his next quest. This time Natsu and Lucy decided to just reunite the long lost father and daughter and hope that he took her on a few jobs like he did the last time. They were also hoping to save him from the black dragon that he lost parts of his body too. He had more important things to do than tangle with a dragon he couldn't defeat, like training his daughter.

He didn't have to wait very long for the man to walk into the guild and order a drink. This time instead of bugging him for a fight while he was talking to Master Natsu started sniffing him. Gildarts and Master shared a look of confusion. Gildarts raised an eyebrow in a way that said, 'is this a normal Natsu thing' or 'is he losing his damn mind?'

Honestly it was hard to understand how those two men could communicate by means of eyebrow raises and frowns but they managed to do it. Eventually the Master just shrugged in shoulders meaning I don't know you deal with it. Several people wondered whether or not the man would make another Natsu shaped crater in the guild.

"Natsu, what are you doing?" and Gildarts fist hit his head, creating a new crater in the guildhall from where Natsu had been flattened into the floor.

"You smell like Cana." He said as he rubbed his head as he stood up and the master raised an eyebrow as Cana spat out her alcohol, looking at all three of them in horror.

"What are you talking about Natsu?" she cried out and he just shrugged seemingly innocent as he sniffed in her general direction and then sniffed Gildarts hair again.

"I never noticed before now. Your scents are similar, like how Laxus and Gramps share a similar scent but theirs isn't as strong as yours. No its more like Macro and Romeo, you both have the same earthy scent, like how the air smells after a storm."

Cana paled as he said it but Gildarts suddenly started looking very closely at Cana and before she could disappear since she was inching towards the door he caught her arm and narrowed his eyes.

"Cornelia, you look like her. My wife she left me long ago because I went on jobs all the time. She got tired of waiting for me to come home. I heard she passed away but I didn't know she had a daughter. You have to be her daughter you looked exactly like she did at your age. You are my daughter aren't you?"

She slowly shook her head, inching away from him and in denial even though he was smiling at her, "I chose your name you know. It was back when we were young and still dreaming of our future. Your mother hoped to have a daughter and I said we would name her Cana. Don't lie to me please child."

Cana couldn't help the tears that rolled down her cheeks and Natsu slowly walked backwards away from all the emotions around him and smiled sheepishly at gramps who raised an eyebrow at him.

"I didn't know." He said weakly.

The master merely chuckled at his obvious lie. His heart was in the right place after all. They both knew that he did know and he was just trying to help her out so the master let it slide. Cana had been coming to the guild for a long time but he didn't know that she had come looking for her father. They had many years to catch up on.

Gildarts took three S-class missions, normal ones this time and called for Cana go pack her bags. They were going to go away for a couple of months and do some father daughter bonding. Cana left the guild feeling more than a little bit overwhelmed.

Gildarts was so happy to call her his daughter. He was so proud to show her off that she couldn't help but let a tear slide down her cheek. This was everything that she ever wanted and she had Natsu to thank for unknowingly revealing her secret. She never would have said anything if it hadn't been for him.

Cana knew that she would have kept trying to become an S-class mage but she also knew that she was just using that as an excuse. She was afraid to talk to her father, to tell him the truth so she kept putting it off. Now she didn't have to worry about it anymore.

Natsu resisted the urge to jump for joy as he watched Cana and Gildarts walk out of the guild. Instead he saw Levy sitting a corner of the guild, reading a book. Team Shadowgear was not a combat team. They trained themselves to look for missing people or artifacts or search ruins and to solve mysteries.

Their magic was mainly defense and none of them ever had much interest in improving their offensive abilities. Jet and Droy never wanted to be one of the heavy hitters of Fairy Tail. They had wanted to go on adventures with Levy, exploring things that people hadn't seen for a long time. They wanted to solve mysteries, not fight every day for their live and Natsu understood that. He never looked down on them for not taking the crazy missions.

However Levy she had the potential to be on same level as Freed when it came to runes. She didn't have much confidence and didn't bother studying it in much detail. Levy was someone who sought knowledge because she enjoyed learning. She was not someone who gathered knowledge for the purpose of powering up. Natsu just needed to give her a gentle push in the right direction.

Lucy had picked up a book on runes from her father library. While it had been interesting to read it wasn't in her skill set. Lucy had enough to learn without adding another type of magic so she wasn't interested in really learning it. Natsu walked over to Levy and dropped the book on Levy's table.

"I found this and I thought you might like it. It kind of went over my head and I don't even know how I got it in the first place."

Levy stared at Natsu in shock for a moment. She picked up the book and read over the title. It was a really advanced book that with enough practice someone could put up some really advanced runes. She thanked him quietly before going back to her book but she placed it on top of her stack of books. She did really appreciate the gift. She was also quite touched that someone as powerful as Natsu believed that she would be capable of using the magic in this book. Natsu on the other hand, hoped that she would start dabbling into runes sooner than she did in the other timeline.

Freed was good for offense but Levy was the best at defense magic. Her team could provide some powerful protections but for now everyone was out there training. There was nothing more he could do for his guild mates right now.

Natsu decided to go back to his wife. They couldn't do anything more until they could locate Mystogan and he put everyone to sleep when he showed up. For now he managed to get a good chunk of the guild off their asses and off to train. That was the best he could for now.

Lucy was currently making lunch while Happy quietly munched on a fish in the lounge. She refused to allow the cat into the guild until she joined. The cat had a mouth bigger than his own body and she was pretty sure that he didn't know what a secret was supposed to be.

He would probably tell the whole world Natsu got married within the first five minutes of arriving. It was really easy to keep him distracted all she had to do was hand him a brand new fish. Happy was content to keep their secret while they trained even though he didn't understand why it was so important for this to be a secret.

Lucy put the stove off and went outside to pick up the laundry. The sun was shining and for a moment Lucy took a deep breath and listened to the silence that surrounded her new home. It was a sort of peace that she had never known.

When she lived in the manor, there was never peace, just loneliness. In her apartment, there was always someone there or something happening. It was shocking to her to realize that this was the most peace and quiet that Lucy had gotten in a long time. It was sort of ironic that she would find this peace with Natsu, after all the insanity that he brought into her life.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard someone walking through the woods near Natsu's home. She was wearing a pair of jeans one of Natsu's shirts. She was actually shocked to realize that he own normal looking shirts. He just didn't like to use them but they were absolutely covered in his scent and she was more than willing to wear them while she cleaned up their home and trained.

She followed the sound of footsteps as quietly as she could and found herself staring at someone that she had never really known. Mystogan was calmly walking towards the guild. It kind of made sense that he would use this route to get to the guild without being seen by the people in town.

Natsu was never home during the day and it was one of the quietest places just outside the town. It was the least populated routes towards the guild. Mystogan was the one person that they had been waiting for since they kind of needed his help to get their plans moving onto the next stages. All they had so far was the plan to get as many of the members in the guild to go train for a couple months.

"Mystogan." She called out his name.

Mystogan paused when the person following him called his name. Lucy expected him to turn around and talking to her. Mystogan on the other hand, flung his hand out towards her and a strange blast sort of black mist went flying in her direction.

She jumped out of the way and he came at her with a staff in his hands. Lucy panicked, she didn't have her keys but she did have her weapon. She sent a pulse of her magic into the bracelet and with a flick of her wrist she was holding a whip.

Lucy was flicking her whip at his staff trying to keep him away from her because she could sense the difference in strength and there was no way she was going to win against him. The staff in his hands prevented him from getting too close to her since she kept flicking the whip at him.

"What are you doing?" she cried.

Her question was lost in the flash of summoned lightening from one of his staffs. Lucy's eyes widened when the lightening came towards her. She jumped over the lightening blot, switched from whip to staff and swept his legs out from under him.

It didn't faze him as Mystogan back flipped to his feet. Lucy did the next best thing that she could do in a situation like this. She whispered Natsu's name and hoped that he heard her. She didn't want to risk shouting out his name and having him think that she was trying to hurt someone in the guild. As a member of Fairy Tail he would probably crush her if he thought that she was trying to harm his family.

Natsu's dragon senses were better than anyone else's. He was almost constantly tuned in to her. He once told her that he could sense her heartbeat half way across Magnolia because he knew her so well. They both knew that he could track her through storms, forests and into nearly any enemy territory so he hoped that he heard her.

Mystogan took advantage of the fact that she was distracted. He was suddenly way to close for comfort and she could see a round house kick heading her way. She raised her staff sloppily and used it to absorb the impact from his kick. Lucy could feel his amusement when she managed to do that even though it was going to leave a bruise with the amount of force that he used.

He knew that she wasn't a match for him. The fact that her block was sloppy only proved the difference in their strengths. Mystogan was toying with her and that kind of made her mad. Then again she didn't really know anything about his abilities but she did know that she wasn't on his level.

He came at her again and she spun her staff in tight circles. Lucy knew that this surprised him. She was creating a defense barrier using wind. It was similar to a wind shield that would be able to absorb the impact from his attacks. He soon got frustrated with not hitting her and jumped backwards getting some distance between them.

He would demolish her in close quarters and they both knew it. She was basically holding him back by the skin of her teeth.

He was going to come at her again when a pink haired dragon slayer with a fist of flames hit the ground between them creating yet another crater. She winced at the destruction. They were really messing up this forest.

"What the hell are you doing ya bastard? You don't just attack your guild members wife!"

Mystogan was so shocked that he dropped his staff, "Wife? I apologize I thought she was part of the dark guild I took on recently. Some of them had been tracking me as I travelled back. Wait, when did you get married? Who is she? She doesn't have a guild mark."

Natsu ruffled his hair, "It's a long story. We were waiting for you to come back. We need your help."

Lucy rolled her eyes at both men, "Will you join us for tea? No one knows you're here and our home isn't far but we do really need to talk to you."

Mystogan followed the blonde woman as she walked in the direction of her home while Natsu immediately took her hand in his own. He smiled under the mask. He never saw Natsu this happy or content ever since he had come to the guild. Then again he wondered how the hell Natsu managed to get a woman that looked like that to marry him and why he was keeping it a secret.

He was also shocked at the house. It was done up, the grass was cut and there was a stone pathway leading to the house. There was a lounge with black sofa's and a fireplace. The kitchen was all done up as well. All in all it was kind of obvious that a woman lived here as well. He remembered seeing Natsu's home a few times. It never looked this good or this put together until now.

Lucy glared at him when he tried to enter the house with his staffs, "Weapons by the door."

Natsu chuckled at his stunned expression from the surprisingly fierce woman. He placed his staff's next to the coat rack that she had set up. It just wouldn't be worth the fight. He was sure of that much.

Lucy decided to just rip the band aid off and tell him what they knew, "I know you're the edo-Jellal so you can take off the mask and hat as well. We know you look like Jellal and Siegrain and that's sort of the reason why we need your help."

Mystogan may or may not have choked on air while Natsu chuckled behind him at the announcement. Lucy decided to give him some time to process that they knew his biggest secret and left to make some tea. She knew that it was probably unnerving for someone to just state that they knew your biggest secret. A secret that he had spent a lot of time ensuring that no one would find out.

While Lucy made tea, Mystogan stared at Natsu and Natsu kind of cracked under the pressure of his stare and told Mystogan about the time travel. They two men spent some time covering everything that happened until they found themselves in the past. Then Natsu told him about the little changes that they had made to the timeline. He asked some questions here and there but mostly he just let Natsu explain what happened. Lucy noticed that Natsu didn't give many details.

He just explained who they faced and why they had to face those people and the outcome of the fights. She understood why he did it. If they told him every single thing that happened then they would be there for a month, maybe longer.

hey had already discussed it and they decided that since they needed so much help from Mystogan then they should tell him the truth. The whole truth and that included the whole time travel thing. He was trustworthy and he didn't really have any other problems to overcome or face again. Once he dealt with the anima and chose his place in the world, he would be free to do as he pleased without the burdens of the past.

"Why did you tell me?" he asked and Lucy was the one who replied.

"Mira has her siblings to worry about right now. Ezra isn't at the same level and she has her own burdens to worry about and Gray has his own demons. Laxus is still an ass and Master has a lot to worry about without knowing this much already."

Lucy watched him drink his tea as he stared at her with curiosity in his eyes. There was no anger and he seemed to believe them so she continued, "Simply put, many people in the guild still have to face their pasts. Their mistakes and their own guilt no matter how misplaced. We don't want to burden them with the knowledge of the future. There are still things to come in the future that they have to face before they are ready to move forward and it isn't fair to burden them with more than they handle."

Natsu took her hand in his own and gave her a gentle squeeze of encouragement as she continued, "We already got people training hard. That will ensure that they're at a higher level than before. They'll be better prepared for whats to come but we cannot protect them from the truth. Many secrets about their pasts will be revealed and they all have the power to overcome it but that is something that they can only do on their own. War is coming and we need all the help we can get preparing it but they can't know until they're done dealing with the past."

Natsu was the one who spoke next, "You're the one whose past can be dealt with now. We don't have to wait for the timeline to play out."

He raised an eyebrow at them, "What exactly do you want me to do?"

Lucy smiled at him kindly, "We want to know whether you want to stay here in the guild or go back to Edolas and become the king."

He looked at her shocked and she carried on speaking, "The last time you didn't have much of a choice. Most of the guild was trapped in lacrima and when we broke out we ended up destroying the town. You had the idea of rebuilding Edolas without magic. They needed a leader and you just stepped up so we separated the two worlds and you stayed behind because there was nothing else we could do."

Lucy too a deep breath and sipped her tea. She needed to get her thoughts together and when she was ready she continued, "We can wait for it to happen again naturally. We can let it play out and you'll end up staying behind as King again. However if you want to stay in the guild, on Earthland then I know of a way to help the people in Edolas and ensure that you come back here."

When Lucy stopped speaking, Natsu started, "We don't want you to make your choices based on what we need you to do. We want you to take your time and decide what you want to do. When you have your answer we'll tell you our plans. We wanted you to have a choice this time, to know that if you don't want to go then we will make sure that you can stay here with your family."

Mystogan agreed to come back in three days and left with a slightly dazed expression on his face as he took in everything that he had just learned.

Natsu raised an eyebrow at his wife, "You're hoping he stays here."

Lucy nodded her head, "It makes our plans easier and gives us another powerful mage. If he really wants to go back to where he was born then that's his choice and I will respect it but we can't make any other moves until we know what he wants to do. I also can't help but hope that he stays here."

They were quiet for a little while until Lucy asked him, "Do you think he will stay?"

Natsu shrugged, "No one knew much about Mystogan but he was loyal to the guild. Did you know during the Phantom Lord attack he destroyed the other branches of the guild?"

Lucy shook her head. She hadn't known that had happened, "Master found out. Mystogan was family. We didn't know him well but he protected us and he loved Wendy. He took care of her and I don't think he would want to leave. The last time there wasn't any other choice but now that he had a choice I don't think he would want to stay there. He spent more time here than in his world."

Natsu wrapped Lucy in a hug. If he stayed then their plans had a better chance for success. If he didn't then they weren't screwed exactly but there was a good chance that things would not go smoothly. Their plans would have to be scrapped and he didn't think that they would be able to pull certain things off without him.

Natsu also wanted him to stay because he felt like the guy deserved better. As loyal as he had been he never had the chance to connect with the guild members. Mystogan had been so worried about covering his face that he never made many friends. He wanted the chance to get to know him. Natsu firmly believed that the rest of the guild would want to meet him. They would want him to know that he was family. This time and he had a feeling that this time he would get that chance.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Lucy had a strict schedule ever since she had come to Magnolia to live with Natsu. She prepared breakfast and they ate together like a family. It warmed her heart to have Happy and Natsu at the table in the morning. It eased the ache in her heart from eating so many meals alone. There were days when she would stare at her ring and bask in the feeling of belonging here in this moment. However she missed her friends in Fairy Tail.

Erza was like her sister, Levy was her best friend, Juvia and Wendy were a big part of her life as well. Then she would remember that some of the people that she missed so dearly weren't even in the guild yet. It made her a little sick to think that the guild that Natsu was visiting was familiar to him but was completely unfamiliar to her. She couldn't bring herself to go there. Not when she knew that not everyone that she considered family would be there or even know her.

Natsu went to the guild after breakfast to keep up to date with what was happening. While he was gone Lucy trained with her spirits and she trained her magic. Capricorn had put her on a strict exercise schedule that Natsu usually stuck around and helped her complete it.

Sometimes he exercised with her after emptying his magic container then they went their separate ways to train their magic. He left her to explore her magic on her own. Natsu always said that her magic was something that he couldn't teach her because it wasn't his. She was the only person who would be able to mold her magic into what she wanted it to be. It was something only she could teach herself.

Lucy would mediate for hours, pulling her magic through her body and into her whip until she exhausted her magical abilities. Then Natsu would show up and even though she was dead tired the two of them would practice fighting.

She was shocked at how flexible she had become in the past month but Natsu already made it very clear that her power would never be in her arms but her legs. Her staff took most of the impact for her and she finally started to train using her escrima sticks as well, but fighting with duel weapons was something that she was still working on.

She changed into her star dresses and she adored the fact that her Gemini star dress gave her the ability to levitate. This was an ability she used to mimic the ability of flight. It had made things a lot easier for her when she was being tossed through the air. She had been surprised by how patient Natsu had been. He ended up being a good teacher and she was learning a lot even though she had been covered in bruises and blisters. She always grinned brightly whenever he pointed out how she had been improving.

Natsu would take a couple jobs and they would often go and test their abilities together. While limiting the amount of damage they did to the towns and seeing how far their training had taken them. Lucy couldn't help feeling a little lonely sometimes. Natsu noticed that she missed being able to go to the guild and hang around their guild mates like she used to do.

He would take her on a date, picnics in the woods and star gazing. He even taught her how to fish and took her to the beach and other places for weekend getaways. She adored the fact that even though they were married he didn't stop being Natsu.

Their relationship had evolved and they were both able to show affection more freely but their relationship had been built on the foundation of a friendship and that didn't change. They were still Lucy and Natsu, he was still her best friend.

He still took her on dates and bought her silly presents. Generally they just enjoyed being a newly wedded couple. It was the most peaceful experience that she had in a long time and she couldn't bring herself to regret not going to the guild.

Then Mystogan appeared and it was time to get back to the real world. Lucy smiled at the peaceful world that she was about to leave because it was time to deal with real life problems. The type of problems that they needed to prepare for because of time travel and the fact that there was another world connected to this one that needed to be separated from Earthland.

"I have lived in the guild for most of my life. I do not want to go back to Edolas. That kingdom has suffered enough under the rule of the royal family. I never wanted to go back. I already had a plan to topple my father and establish a new kingdom the problem was that I would be trapped there as well. If you can ensure that I will return then I can use the next anima opening to resolve the issue."

Lucy smiled at him even though he showed up at her door a day early as the bloody sun was rising and she wasn't much of a morning person. She was however pleased that he was determined. Lucy was willing to overlook the fact that he woke her up at the crack of dawn only because he had a real answer for them. The answer that she had hoped he would make.

Mystogan had made his choice and he didn't want to wait any longer to tell them or deal with the issue. Lucy may have been looking like a zombie but inside she was jumping for joy. She really did not want him to go back to Edolas. Things would have been a lot easier if he just stayed in the guild. His power would have made a huge difference in many of the things that they had faced and now many of her plans would fall into place.

"You already have a plan?" asked Natsu and Mystogan laughed.

"I have been here for over eight years Natsu. I had many plans but almost all of them ended with me trapped in Edolas. I didn't know if they would be successful. Now that I know what happens in the future I can ensure things go the way it did in the future." He replied.

Lucy presented him clothes from the spirit world. Black pants, white shirt with a long coat in dark blue with gloves and a silver mask. It looked similar to the type of clothes Jellal wore when he woke up during the Nirvana battle.

"These are clothes from the spirit world. Its been imbued with magic ensuring that you will be pulled back to this world once you're done in Edolas. If it doesn't work then we can use it as a beacon to open a door directly to you and bring you back through the spirit world." Lucy explained and Mystogan nodded his head.

"I'll be back soon and then we'll talk about your plan." He replied and set off to where he could sense anima.

"What exactly are we going to do to him?" asked Natsu and Lucy laughed.

"Our Jellal isn't a criminal yet. He technically hasn't done anything wrong either. No one knows what they're building on that island so we're going to make sure that no one can tie our Jellal to that mess. We're going to kidnap Jellal, use Loke's power of Regulus to cleanse the taint from his mind and then once he is sane he can carry on his life as Siegrain. Mystogan can stop hiding and go by the name Jellal again and pretend that they really are twins."

"What about Ezra?" asked Natsu and Lucy shrugged her shoulders.

"She forgave him when he was no longer possessed anymore so maybe that will happen again. He can retire from the council and join Fairy Tail and fix his relationship with Ezra. Mystogan gets to live out his life here in whatever way he wants." Replied Lucy.

"How did you know that he had plans to take down the Mad King already?" asked Natsu and Lucy giggled.

"He spent his whole life ensuring that his fathers plan would fail. I just assumed that he probably made thousands of plans to ensure that something like this would never happen again. It was something that I would do if I was in his position."

"Are you sure he doesn't need any help?" asked Natsu and Lucy shrugged, "He said he had a plan so lets give him a few days before we go looking for him."

"What happens when he comes back?" asked Natsu and Lucy bit her lip.

"I was hoping that he would go and get Wendy. As much as I want to wait for her to join the guild naturally, she is young and she needs so much training. Her abilities are one of the most powerful forces that we have and she managed to learn to harness dragon force first. Wendy had incredible potential and we are here two years early. It doesn't seem right to leave her in that guild all alone. They cared for her but she was the only child there."

"Would she leave her guild?" asked Natsu and Lucy shrugged.

"Maybe, she loves Mystogan as her big brother even if she doesn't come immediately to Fairy Tail we can meet her. We can start her training and she'll have some friends a little earlier. Wendy was incredibly shy but that was mostly because she never met many people besides the ones that lived in the village. We can give her self-esteem a boost."

Natsu nodded his head and headed to the guild. He wanted to keep up to date on what was happening to everyone. They had heard from both Mira and Ezra and neither were ready to head back home yet. They had checked in to let the Master know that were all alive and that they hadn't gotten into any trouble. Their training was progressing well and they wouldn't be back for a few more months.

Gildarts and Cana were still out on the S class missions that he had taken. Laxus was actually at the guild. That was not something that happened often at this time and he was with the Thunder God Tribe. They were chatting quietly amongst themselves and for a moment he wondered if he should say something to them. However, he and Lucy were already trying to deal with the whole Jellal, Mystogan and Edolas situation. He really didn't want to add Laxus to that list. At least not yet, they already had a full plate.

He didn't stick around long instead he went back home to his wife. Once he realized that Mystogan still hadn't returned, they decided to train for a few hours. It had already been three days since Mystogan had left and he knew that Lucy was starting to worry however it turned out that they really didn't have to worry so much.

Mystogan showed up at the house that night while Lucy was cooking supper. She immediately started fussing over him. He was exhausted and a little roughed up so she sent him to bath, fed him and then put him in the guest room for the night. He was exhausted and Natsu was just relieved that he had retuned in one piece. They could pick his brain another time.

It didn't take them long to realize that he brought Panterlily with him. Lucy had actually forgotten that he wasn't currently with Gajeel. Actually they forgot that he was enemy at this point completely. They had been more focused on Zeref and his creations. The fact that Juvia and Gajeel only joined the guild after getting their asses beat and that they were currently in a semi-dark guild had been forgotten.

"Do you think they'll still join Fairy Tail?" asked Lucy.

Natsu honestly didn't know what to say to her. The only reason why Phantom had attacked when they did was because Jude had given them a reason too. There was no way he would do that again so he was at a loss on how they were supposed to convince Juvia and Gajeel to join their guild again.

"Jose really hated Gramps and the guild. Even if he doesn't use you as a reason to start a guild war then he'll eventually find loophole just so that he can pick a fight with us. I'm sure that they will, in the end Gajeel and Juvia were Fairy Tail mages. They'll find themselves on the right path eventually." Replied Natsu and Lucy kissed his cheek in response.

She was really proud of him and she was touched that he was really listening to her. Every time that they spoke about the timeline and the changes they made the future that they remembered became more and more useless. She knew it got confusing and here was her husband trying to reassure her that the people they saved in the other timeline could be saved again.

The Phantom Lord attack was a big deal as such it would probably be a fixed event in the timeline. The guilds went to war and the effects had really rippled. Jose lost his title which probably allowed Jura to take his place as a saint or it was possible that he replaced Siegrain but that wasn't something that they really knew.

Gajeel and Juvia joined Fairy Tail and many other mages were left to go find another guild to join. Gajeel eventually took in Panterlily and he fell in love with Levy. They had saved Gajeel and Juvia from themselves and she hoped that she could do so again.

Lucy didn't like the fact that they would have to face Phantom Lord again. She had eventually become very close to Juvia. She even managed to create a good relationship with Gajeel in the end. Levy was kind of in love with him. She couldn't let their first meeting be like that again. She couldn't let Levy be attacked like that but at the same time she had no idea whether or not everything would play out the same way. She would have to be patient for now. At least they wouldn't attack because of her this time.

The next morning once everyone was rested they finally set out to plan their next move. Mystogan sat in their training area while they sparred. Sometimes he would call out corrections for Lucy until they were done. Lucy rolled her eyes at him, "We should spar again Natsu keeps going easy on me."

Natsu of course denied the accusation and the couple joined him under the tree, "We know about Wendy and she eventually became a Fairy Tail mage however she needs a lot of training. I was hoping that you would introduce us to her so we can start her training. She will eventually join us but we're not in a hurry to bring her here when she's comfortable where she is."

He agreed to do so since the portals were closed he was planning on going and visiting her. He had gone back to his home, gathered some people he knew he could trust like Panterlily and overthrown his father. He then destroyed the castle and put Ezra Knightwalker in charge.

His father had done enough damage to the people and that world. It was for the best that it was led by the people who lived there and cared for people always. The connection between the two worlds had been completely destroyed. There was nothing holding him back from living his life to the fullest.

He also didn't want the news of another world to get out. That would probably get some idiot to try and open the connection again so he didn't think he would ever tell anyone who didn't know the truth about where he came from. It was best if the information was just forgotten.

"Wendy isn't the main priority right now. We need to kidnap Jellal and ensure that the dark magic is purified from his mind. Then we can give him to Ezra and let them work out their differences." Complained Natsu.

Mystogan looked at them both in shock. They were talking about kidnapping a wizard saint and then casually giving a human being as a present to one of the scariest woman that he had ever met. He once wondered why Lucy would marry Natsu and now he knew. She was just as crazy as he was.

Lucy rolled her eyes and reminded Natsu to calm down while she explained the events that happened in the Tower of Heaven. Mystogan listened attentively but when she was done he had to say something that had been bugging him about the whole story.

"It is possible that the Tower will still need to be destroyed. Jellal will no longer be in charge but someone will come in and fill the power vacuum." He said.

Natsu agreed with him and Lucy just shook her head, "If we need to destroy the tower then we will when its completed. We don't want to take out the whole island before its time. We might mess up the timeline too much."

Natsu reminded them that, "Jellal hasn't actually done any harm yet. If we can avoid him becoming a criminal then he can help us a lot more easily and then the two of you can pass as twins. If anyone asks the reason why you hid your face for so long was because your brother was part of the council. You didn't want the attention that came with that, leave the rest of the tower alone for now."

Once Mystogan got his head around the fact that the current Jellal was possessed and not at fault for his actions he had to come to terms with the fact that they had created an entire identity for him. They did it because they didn't want him to have to hide his face anymore. Once he had processed everything he had to ask a more pressing question.

"How are you going to kidnap a wizard saint?" he asked and they both looked at him evilly.

Mystogan felt a cold shiver run down his spine and he just knew that they were going to make things very interesting and extremely insane for him. He briefly wondered what he had just signed up for and then decided to just go with the crazy. He had lived most of his life by a whole bunch of rules that he had created for himself he didn't see any reason not to just let loose and enjoy himself.

"He really does attend council meetings and the lady with him is not someone that we can tangle with just yet. We need you to stalk the council and kidnap him first chance you get." Replied Natsu.

Mystogan looked at the couple like they were mad. Actually since the blonde married Natsu he was sure she had a couple screws loose. Things were definitely going to be interesting with them around.

"How am I supposed to do that?" he asked and Lucy giggled.

"Just put him to sleep and teleport him here. You are able to put our master to sleep so you could put him to sleep as well, we only need a few minutes. Once he's asleep you put the magic dampening cuffs on him and teleport him here then I'll use Loke's magic to cleanse his mind."

Mystogan looked at the blonde like she was nuts, she was going to bet everything including her life since this guy was possessed and if it didn't work then he would kill her so that she could never try to cleanse his mind ever again and she was giggling like this was nothing, "Are you sure that your spirit will be able to cleanse the taint?"

Lucy glared at him, "Loke's power was able to separate Capricorn from Zoldeo after they underwent the taboo. He'll be able to cleanse this taint as well and if he cannot which I would find highly unlikely then I'll take him to the Spirit King. He owes me a favor."

Mystogan didn't have a response to that and something that him that if he questioned the power that her spirits held anymore then she was going kick him out the door. He really had missed home cooking and being able to walk around without a mask was really nice so he didn't want to anger her anymore. Lucy could be scary when she got angry and he didn't want that wrath directed at him.

She really was a dragon's wife. That girl had a spine of steel and fire in her eyes and he could see why Natsu was so in love with her. She was a spitfire so instead he asked if she wanted to have that spar before he left on a mission that was so important that if he failed would probably end in the death in everyone involved in the plan and Lucy smiled at him happily.

He fought often with a staff so he had more experience but Lucy was clever and she did learn quickly. She gave it her best shot and whenever she felt too overwhelmed she switched to whip form and gained some distance. He had to admit that her skills with her whip far outweighed her close combat skills but she was learning and she was improving.

If he had to rate her skills on a scale of 10 with 10 being able to match Ezra who was a master at close combat, then she was probably somewhere near a three or three and a half and from what he heard she had only been learning for a month. She would get there eventually and he really wanted to help her especially since he could see how hard she was working.

She was like a light that drew people in and healed the wounds that they didn't even notice were still hurting. He hadn't felt something like a family in so long and here in her home, it was like coming home from a long mission and knowing he was safe.

He decided that he liked the new style and instead of using his old clothes. He took the mask that Lucy gave him and secured it on his face. He preferred it to his makeshift mask and decided to stalk the council until he could figure out the perfect time to kidnap Jellal.

He really hoped that nothing went wrong here because if he was found kidnapping a council member he was likely going to jail and getting the guild into a lot of trouble. If the master was able to get him out of it, he would probably pummel him.

Mystogan stalked them for a week and a half before he realized that Jellal came here in person every three days. Once he was sure of his actions and the path that he always took when he was inside the council building he put his plan into action. Mystogan waited until Jellal went to the bathroom and then he teleported inside.

The black haired lady that Natsu and Lucy told him to stay clear of was still getting lunch in the cafeteria. He knocked Jellal out with his sleep spell and hit him with the cuffs. To be safe he put another pair of cuffs around his ankles because he was supposed to be a wizard saint and then he teleported back to Natsu's home. It really was very easy and he wondered if he should let the council know that they needed to up their security.

Mystogan winced when Happy started screaming as the two men landed in the lounge. Happy went flying outside calling for Natsu and Lucy because a strange man had entered the house with a prisoner. Lucy immediately caught sight of them and face palmed. She also had to catch Happy by the tail and stop him from alerting half the guild to the fact that they were here.

"Happy this is Mystogan from the guild and his twin brother Siegrain. They got into a fight so Mystogan did that to him. Now go to the kitchen there's a fish next to the stove for you."

Mystogan chuckled, "You sound like a mother."

She rolled her eyes at him and rolled Jellal onto his back. He was still asleep so Lucy summoned Loke with a flick of her wrist. Loke put his glowing hands to the mans temples and spent the next five minutes like that while Lucy bit her lip in nervousness.

Natsu on the other hand was still at the guild. The only reason why Happy hadn't gone flying to him was because Lucy managed to catch his tail in time. They did not need the whole guild here, trying to help not with something like this.

She couldn't explain why they kidnapped a wizard saint or why she was in the house or who she was or why Mystogan looked like him. She really just wanted to keep this a secret. They were not ready to confront the guild yet. She didn't think they would be ready anytime soon at the rate that they were going. There was a lot for them to do before she was introduced to the guild.

"This is going to take a while. We need to keep him here and it will take some time to completely get rid of the taint. Afterwards he will need a healer. Wendy didn't just heal his physical wounds the first time this happened she also healed much of the damage the possession did to his mind. I can take away the taint but he'll need a healing session with her afterwards." Explained Loke and Lucy sighed.

She had a feeling that Loke wouldn't be able to get him into top shape immediately. Her spirit just wasn't a healer nor was he on the same level as Wendy. They could always just keep him here. No one would think to look for him here but that was dangerous and asking for trouble.

Loke could work on removing the taint while Mystogan went and got Wendy and then explained the situation to her. She had hoped that they wouldn't need to upset the little girls life too much but it seemed like a very good idea to let a proper healer take care of the man. Having Jellal here, so close to the guild was dangerous.

"How come a possession like this is going take longer to cleanse?" asked Mystogan and this time he didn't mean any type of disrespect instead he seemed interested in learning how the magic worked and why it affected different people in different ways.

Loke covered Jellal's body in his Regulus power before he answered, "When I separated Capricorn from Zoldeo, I blasted through their body killing Zoldeo and returning Capricorn to the spirit world. Capricorn recovered quickly but Jellal is human, doing something like that to him would kill him."

Loke's hands stopped glowing and he sighed before he continued his explanation, "Wendy healed the physical wounds he received from his fight with Natsu. However she unknowingly also healed his broken mind from the possession. However Wendy was still young and her healing magic was unrefined. She just poured power into healing the wounds present. The mind isn't like the physical body, she healed him but as a result he ended up with amnesia. He did eventually he regain his memories but she could have done more harm than good. I don't think she even realized how deeply damaged his mind had been, she probably believed that it was all physical."

Lucy left Loke to heal Jellal while she took Mystogan aside, "You should go visit Wendy, tell her why you had to leave her for so long and that you'll come to visit again with friends so she isn't overwhelmed."

Mystogan raised an eyebrow to her, "Do you think I should tell her about Edolas? Its not something many people know about and I don't want her to mess up by accident by talking about it. We don't want anyone trying to re-establish the connection between the two worlds."

Lucy simply shrugged, "Tell her that there was a dangerous job that you needed to do. Now that its over and everything is safe you came back for her. When she's older you can explain more if you feel its necessary but for now she is just a child. She is a child with powerful magic that needs training and in desperate need of a confidence boost."

"How powerful did Wendy become in the future?" asked Mystogan and Lucy thought that he looked like a really proud big brother or someone who was picturing the future of someone they deeply cared for. She was glad that he never forgot about her in all the time that he had spent chasing the anima.

Lucy smiled at him gently, it was easy to see how much he cared for the younger girl. Lucy wouldn't have been surprised if one of the reasons why he stayed in this world was because he didn't want to leave her alone. Especially knowing that there was a war coming.

The last time the drama with Edolas happened Wendy was already in the guild. Mystogan knew where she was and that she was safe. He didn't have to worry about her but this time she was still far away and he hadn't seen her in a long time. It was only natural that he would want reassurance and maybe now that he knows about the war that's coming he wants to be here to protect her.

"She was the first person to master using dragon force. She faced a real life dragon and she beat one of the demons from the books of Zeref all on her own. Wendy didn't like to fight but when she bared her fangs she managed to unleash the fury of the heavens. She was Fairy Tails Queen of the Sky even if she never claimed a title."

Mystogan was proud and he desperately wanted to see it. As much as he wished that he could keep her safe all her life Wendy was a dragon slayer and she was meant to be fighting on the front lines in the thick of battle. Now that he knew how much potential that she had, he couldn't wait to see her claim her title as the Queen of the Sky. She belonged here and he just knew it, deep in his bones.

Natsu came back a little while later and Lucy updated him on everything that was going on with Jellal and Loke. Natsu couldn't help but wonder what Ultear and her accomplices were going to do now that they lost Jellal and Siegrain. Then again those two probably had some sort of plan if the possession didn't hold long enough. They were plotting and planning this stuff for a long time. They would have some sort of back-up plan.

Natsu looked into the island (Lucy told him to get the information for her) and currently the council didn't know much about them. Back when Ezra had been younger there had been other islands in that area. All of them were trying to build the R-system and eventually they had been destroyed either due to rebellion or due to the magic council's interference or they got themselves blown up.

However some were never discovered. The council still sent out some ships to check on the area but so far he and the island had managed to remain undetected and probably would remain that way until the tower got too big to ignore.

Siegrain had done a good job of keeping them away from his tower. The most that the council knew was that Siegrain had a twin brother who travelled around a lot and sometimes got into trouble. The only time the council had been drawn to Jellal was after he completed the R-system.

It was also highly likely the only reason they noticed it was because the structure had been so big. They literally couldn't ignore it anymore. It caught their attention way too late and then he blew up members of the council. It had been one of the biggest disasters that the council ever dealt with. A criminal had duped them all. He had made a mockery out of them and they never learned their lesson.

The rest of the world figured out that he was a criminal after the explosion when the survivors told them about his betrayal. Until all of that happened Jellal was a free man in the eyes of the law. Once they managed to free his mind they would have to deal with his drama. However that would take time so it would be a good idea to let Mystogan and Wendy spend some time together once again.

"I think Mystogan should take Jellal to Wendy. Loke can pass through the gate using his own powers. If you give Mystogan Loke's key, he can pass through the gate whenever he wants and help heal Jellal's mind. Wendy can use her powers to ensure that Loke doesn't do any more damage. Mystogan and Wendy can get reacquainted once their done with the healing we'll go introduce ourselves to Wendy. It will also give her time to get used to the idea of strangers visiting."

Lucy looked horrified at the thought of giving away one of her keys, "Its too dangerous to leave him here Lucy. The council might come looking for Siegrain if this takes too long and Fairy Tail doesn't have the best reputation. Loke would never break your contract. Mystogan will bring the key back as soon as he doesn't need his power anymore. A week at most and Loke's part in the healing will be done."

Lucy bit her lip, "You won't lose it right?" she asked him and Mystogan nodded his head.

"I promise to take very good care of him Lucy." He replied because he knew how much her spirits meant to her. He had watched her train with them and he knew that Natsu would burn him to ash if he messed this up but more than that he knew that it wasn't safe to keep Siegrain here.

It was true that no one would think that he would be here but Magnolia was one of the biggest cities in Fiore. If he was gone too long then the council would look for him and they would search large areas like this first. The possibility of him being found was just too great and no one needed to deal with that.

They needed to keep a low profile until he was healed and right now the best place would be with Wendy. No one ever managed to find her after all. When they were done with this, he had a feeling that he was going to be dragged into something even more crazy and dangerous and he smiled because it sounded like it would probably be another adventure. It had been a long time since he had travelled for the sake of an adventure and not just to clean up his fathers mess.

Mystogan watched Lucy and Natsu as they chased each other outside and played tag and he smiled. It had been a really long time since he had truly enjoyed the company of someone else. The fact that he had people who could see his face was something else extremely new but he couldn't help but want to go on this adventure with the two of them.

Their plans were insane and dangerous and they were preparing for a war but at the same time there as so much love and happiness he couldn't help but look forward to the fight. He wanted to be here more than anything else in the world. He knew that he would never have been happy in Edolas. He never had the fondest memories of the place. Before he met these two people, maybe he could have made it work but right now all he wanted to do was be part of this family.

He owed Makarov, for finding him, helping him protect his secret and giving him a home. However Lucy and Natsu were probably the first friends that he had in a long time. There were no secrets and half-truths between them. It was nice to be seen and included especially when they so obviously shared such a special bond with each other. Mystogan sat there and he enjoyed the laughter in air and the breeze on his face. They could worry about the rest another time, for now they had everything they needed and everything was alright.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: The Edolas arc isn't something that I remember very well and it doesn't really have much of a purpose in my story. Lisanna never went there and Mystogan doesn't want to go back there either so here's the thing -I have no idea how to 'separate' the two worlds so there will be no more talk of Edolas or what Mystogan did but I will say that it everything worked out and the exceeds have come to Earthland and that is it. I'm essentially done playing with that arc.

Guest- You asked for more NALU moments and I'll be honest me writing fight scenes and romantic scenes could use some work but I tried in this chapter so I'd like some reviews on how I did with the romantic moment…. Some feedback on whether or not I did a good job or something?

Chapter seven

Mystogan had taken Jellal and Loke to Wendy three days ago. The plan was for him to go find Wendy and have their reunion. He would explain that he left her because his twin brother went mad and now that he managed to find a way to save him, he needed her help to finish healing him. He was also going to tell her about the new friends that he made who wanted to meet her and he was going to tell her about the dragon slayer that he found.

Lucy thought it would be easier on the young girl if she was introduced to them by someone that she knew and trusted. They didn't want to overwhelm her or have her think that they wanted something from her. They just wanted to help her but they couldn't force her to train or to power up. Wendy didn't like to fight and they didn't want to force her into doing something that she wasn't comfortable doing.

Natsu on the other hand decided that it was time they upped Lucy's training. For the first month and half since Lucy had lived with Natsu the two generally sparred on a one foot wide balancing beam. The beam didn't have much space to fight on.

The purpose of the beam was to force Lucy to confront him head on, where she learned to block, punch and kick and stay on her feet. She didn't have much experience on using her surroundings to her advantage, something that he needed to change. A battlefield could be a small confined space or the size of a city. She needed to be able to adjust according to her environment.

The beam taught her balance for one thing and it helped her walk with more grace. It taught her how to control the small space around herself and fight without running and hiding. She had been forced to face him head on and fight with her staff and escrima sticks as well as jump and kick without landing on her ass and instead she even managed to pull of some basic combinations of kicking and punching.

She was extremely proud of the fact that she learned how to do proper damage to an opponent so that she could actually knock people out instead of her 'Lucy kick' which didn't have much power behind it. Usually if it failed she usually ended up doing more damage to herself than her opponent.

Her power was in her center which meant that her kicks were more powerful than her punches. It also meant that was why she had a weapon in her hand, to make up for her lack of strength in her arms. However Natsu and the rest of her team once they decided to form it were well known for taking on high class missions some of them were S-classed since they had Ezra on their team.

Simply put, the battle place would be large, messy and filled with people and objects she would have to be able to avoid her allies and any rubble that was in her path. She would also have to ensure that she landed on her feet because being thrown around was the reason for many of her injuries in the past.

She needed to be more flexible and learn some acrobatics. She could already levitate herself so Natsu was determined for her to be able to fly through the air jumping and dodging while protecting allies. He also hoped that she would be able to catch herself when she was being thrown through the air and stopping herself from getting hit.

Most of her injuries came from being thrown into something or landing wrong or not being able to stay on her feet. If she could keep her balance and stay upright her battle was already half-won, being able to take the punches were just as important as throwing them.

Natsu set up the training place deep in the woods. He actually had to cut down a tree to ensure that the place would be perfect for what he wanted to do. He had Lucy call out Aries who spread random fluffs of her wool in several different places of the clearing. The trees marked their battlefield so Lucy couldn't go out of the ring that he created and she couldn't land on the floor anywhere but where the wool had been placed.

She could use the trees and rocks as stepping stones and hand holds but she couldn't touch anything for more than 15 seconds. There was even a small pond in the clearing so she could use all her spirits but she had to either be air born or jumping and flipping while fighting him. Natsu had created a battlefield and while the two of them fought Lucy would be constantly moving. She would have to able to tell her where she going to land and on what.

He was hoping to train her speed and test how well she could use her surroundings to her advantage. Lucy wasn't the best close range fighter, she was probably a solid four by now but she was a holder mage and her strength was her mind. She could fight but now she needed to see how well she would do in an area that was bigger than a balancing beam.

It was time to really start testing her abilities and really pushing her experience a more lifelike battle. She knew what their battles usually ended up looking like but she wanted to be in the thick of things so she had to be able to keep up. Lucy was touched that he was taking her training this seriously. He really was putting her through the ringer but it was exactly what she had asked him to do.

Lucy wasn't going fast enough. After their first spar she realized that she was going over his fifteen second limit and taking too long to figure out where to land. She kept trying but every time that she hesitated he kicked her ass until they decided to take a break.

Lucy collapsed on the ground exhausted and covered in scrapes and bruises. The fact that he was doing this for her she could no longer claim that Natsu was going easy on her. He was taking her training seriously. All her bumps and bruises were proof that he was going to push her as hard as she could go. She appreciated it even though she was going to soak in their bath for hours tonight.

"I don't know how you always know where to land. You get blasted backwards and you don't even look to see where you're going to land but you always manage to keep your balance and somehow you always end up on your feet like a freaking cat."

Lucy hoped he knew that she wasn't complaining but at the same time she really just wanted some goddamn advice. Learning through practice was easy enough when they were just sparring and he was showing how to actually do the moves and which parts of her body she needed to use when doing a certain type of move.

However they weren't just sparring anymore. It wasn't the basics of martial arts this was a simulation of real life fighting and she just didn't know what she was doing wrong. It was frustrating especially after all the work she put in to do better than before.

Natsu tugged on her hand until she sat down and placed her head in his lap and started combing through her long blonde hair trying to relax her. It really was a nice sunny day and they were in the woods so they had plenty of shade. He closed his eyes and felt the breeze on his face and he could hear the sounds of the animals in the woods and he breathed in her scent.

There were probably a million things wrong or going to go wrong in their future but in this moment everything was perfect, she was perfect. He gazed down at her and he couldn't help but smile. Her creamy skin was getting slightly tan from all the time she was spending outside, her hands weren't as soft as they once were and she was covered in sweat and grime but she was still the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

Her hair was getting long but he liked it like this. He liked everything about her and he loved having her all to himself. He was able to touch her whenever he wanted, hold her without feeling her pull away and kiss her every chance he got and he would miss the privacy that he had with her. Once the guild knew the truth, they wouldn't get a single moments peace, everyone would be in their business.

"Natsu?" she called his name and he couldn't help but smile because his name fell perfectly from her lips.

"I love you." He told her and he watched her blush from her cheeks all the way down her neck and to the tops of those perfect creamy globes of flesh on her chest.

"I love you too Natsu." She replied her voice sounded like music to him and he couldn't help but give her his famous fanged grin and kissing her roughly.

Lucy gasped into his mouth and his tongue immediately tangled with hers and he dominated her mouth, stealing the breath from her lungs and utterly ravishing her.

"You keep searching for a solid hold when you land or grab something before you push off. The problem isn't that you don't know how or what to do. The problem is that you don't know whether or not you've landed somewhere steady. When you were jumping on the beam you knew that it was going to hold your weight that you wouldn't fall but fighting like this doesn't have that guarantee."

Lucy's eyes were glazed over with lust as he finally answered her question. She knew that his self-satisfied grin on his face was because he could see that he had kissed her senseless and now she was trying to make sense of his words and keep up with his explanation. This was after all the advice that she had asked him for. Natsu just really wanted her to be as speechless as she made him everyday.

Natsu pointed to some of the rocks that she used as hand holds, "You used them to somersault over me but if you planted your feet on them and threw yourself off it then you could have used the momentum to kick me unconscious. When you fight the truth is that you don't know what's going to cave in next but almost anything that you use as a springboard will be able to hold your weight for fifteen seconds before it crumbles. As long as your moving you can stay alive long enough to win."

Lucy finally managed to follow his train of thought and realized that she never thought of it like that. Then again, she never really thought about fighting and the smallest details about it. She just saw the fancy stuff, being hyper aware of her surroundings came with spending hours suspended on a balancing beam.

Natsu taught her that she needed to be aware of what was happening around her then she could use it to her advantage. He was right even if whatever she used as a spring board broke or crumpled if she was fast enough and already done using it then it wouldn't matter. As long as it served its purpose for that moment it didn't matter what would happen afterwards. She just had to make sure that every move she made had a purpose and that she moved fast enough to ensure that she was in control of her actions.

Natsu grinned as he noticed that she had gotten slightly better later that day during her next attempt at a spar. They would probably be doing this for another month until he was comfortable with saying that she would be a solid five when she mastered this but the truth was that he was having the time of his life with his wife.

Natsu and Lucy rarely got to spend time together especially since their team was so involved in their everyday life. He loved the guild and he would die for his team but the amount of times that they ended up ruining the moment had just been ridiculous in the end he gave up waiting for the perfect moment. He had seen pretty much what seemed to be the end of the bloody world and there was no way in hell that he was going to let another moment go by and she wouldn't know how he felt about her.

He kissed her the first chance that he got and he still did it. He told her he loved her every day and he got her pretty things because he knew that she liked them. He brought her flowers just because it made her smile. He got married to her, put a ring on her finger so that everyone would see it and stay the hell away because he was a possessive fucker at heart and he knew it. He would not be able to tolerate anyone flirting with her again, he just couldn't deal with that crap.

He sent the Strauss siblings and Ezra and Gray far away so that they would all just leave him alone for a little while. He did it so that he could have these moments with her so that he could just keep her to himself for a couple of months. He wanted to enjoy being married, enjoy being together in a whole new way and just find their feet.

It was a big step that he had taken with very little thought. He knew it was the right one but he still needed a moment or two to just adjust and process what they had now. He wanted to do it alone, without anyone breathing down his neck.

He knew it was selfish and that she probably missed the guild and her friends. Natsu knew that she got lonely sometimes which was why he worked so hard to make sure that he was always there for her. Lucy seemed so bloody happy when she learned new things so he just kept training her and when she got too bored then he took her out of town and out on a job.

He enjoyed this time with her because soon when everyone returned and they introduced her as his wife they would have questions and want to get to know her and they wouldn't leave them alone for more than a couple hours.

They were closer now than they had been before the whole time travel thing. She was more in tune with his instincts and he understood her better now. He supposed that age had come into play a little. They may be young in body but they knew that they had lived longer and been through a whole lot. Their relationship had always been strong but now it was like they moved as two parts of a whole. The more he taught her how to fight the more she picked up on his fighting style and started to compliment him as she fought.

He always knew where Lucy was and now she seemed to be hyper aware of all his movements. They moved together like a dance. The longer they practiced together almost able to move in complete synch without wasting a moment or movement. The last time he had seen something like this was when Sting and Rouge fought together. It was breath taking to watch but absolutely amazing to be part of as he moved with her, being with her was everything that he hoped it would be and more.

"You know Laxus kind of had a point when he was talking about the battle of Fairy Tail." he said to her one night after their training.

Lucy narrowed her eyes at him, "What are you talking about?"

Natsu grinned at her, "I don't mean hurting anyone Luce. When Mira and Ezra and all of them return it would be nice to test our abilities against each other. Fairy Tail never cared much about how strong its members were but we all did hold ourselves to certain standards and there were people in the guild that we wanted to reach but we never really tested our abilities against each other. It might even calm us down if we were able to fight it out and get our answers, see how close we are to our goals."

Lucy thought about what he said carefully and realized that he made an extremely good point. It would be nice for a few challenges to be made and see who came out the victor and how far the other person had to go a friendly sparring match like how Natsu and Ezra fought when she first came to Fairy Tail.

"You should mention it to the master. Maybe he could have Freed and Levy set out runes to protect the guild, get a practice area where you guys can have mock battles. Especially if what you said about Ezra and Mira is true then when they get back they're going to destroy the guild. It should also motivate some members to get more powerful."

Natsu kissed her forehead, happy that she understood where he was going with this and he was also hoping that Mystogan would show up and kick Laxus's ass. Then maybe take him away with his brother. He was sure that between the two of them they could teach him how to be a better person.

He really wasn't sure it would work and he hadn't brought it up to Lucy yet because she was more interested in meeting Wendy again at this point than worrying about Laxus. Laxus was an asshole but he was their asshole and they would get him to understand without having to be expelled. It had broken gramps heart to do that and he wasn't going to put the old man through that again.

Natsu kind of wondered how he would fair against Laxus if he and Lucy fought against him and then he realized that Laxus was a monster above other monsters and the sooner he figured out what it meant to be a Fairy Tail mage the faster he would reach those heights.

Then again, Laxus, Ezra, Mira and Gray were all at a very low level compared to where he was currently. He remembered not being able to do anything against Bluenote on Tenrou Island but when he came back from his yearlong training mission he was able to knock him out with one punch while barely paying any attention to him.

During that one year, everyone powered up majorly but now compared to where they all had been they were nowhere near what they were truly capable of and he was going to have to push them to train and train hard to get them back up to that level. Natsu pushed those thoughts out of his mind and cuddled his wife in bed because they were finally going to meet Wendy again in the morning and he needed to sleep.

Mystogan had sent word that Loke's part was done and that they should come and meet Wendy since she was excited to meet another dragon slayer. Lucy went to get one of her keys back and finally meet her little sister. It was a good reason to introduce them without them seeming like they wanted to force the girl into anything that she didn't want to do.

Meeting Wendy again had been an experience. The girl blushed very often and that was cute but she was shy and unsure of herself. It made Natsu kind of mad to see her so timid. She was a dragon slayer, a user of lost magic and he knew that she was so much more than she thought she could be.

Wendy was meant to be soaring through the skies and owning that shit but she seemed to crawl into her shell every time they got close to her. He remembered their Wendy and he knew that she was so much more than this fragile little girl and he couldn't wait to break her out of her shell.

Lucy on the other hand sympathized with the girl. She knew what was like to live in a place where everyone was older than you were and no one truly understood you. Young girls needed mothers or at least a sister. They needed role models, strong women to inspire them. She remembered Erza had done that for her.

Wendy was living in a village where the people definitely showed care for her but it was obvious that she was lonely. Her guild master was a ghost of someone long gone and the people here were created to give her the illusion of a family. It reminded her of living in the mansion with the servants who were always kind to her but kept her at arm's length.

Wendy had shown an interest in Lucy's spirits and the two girls had spent a lot of time talking about their magic and their theories about how it worked. Wendy explained her supportive and defensive magic and even her healing magic. However, at her age using it for too long often tired her out.

Lucy started her training by showing her how meditate and empty her magic so that her magic reserves would grow. Wendy had been grateful and Mystogan had encouraged her to learn the full limits of her power.

"Why is it going to take several healing sessions to wake him up Wendy?" asked Natsu when they first arrived.

Mystogan had already explained that he had introduced Wendy to Siegrain as his twin brother who had come into contact with dark magic that had twisted his mind. She had immediately placed him in a healing coma. As far as Wendy knew the reason why he left her here was because Siegrain was in danger and the dark magic made him dangerous to his brother and the people around him. She had been sad that he left her behind but at the same time grateful that he had sought to protect her.

"Healing him in one go is possible but his memories might be lost and I don't know if he can recover them in the future. If I do several sessions over a few weeks we'll ensure he remembers everything and that there will be no lingering traces of the magic that could cause instability." She replied while hiding behind Mystogan.

Lucy assumed that the last time she healed him she hadn't realized how much dark magic had been infecting his mind. She just healed away thinking that the wounds had been created by the island being destroyed and the insane amount of magic that was lying around back then. This time Wendy knew exactly what she needed to heal. It wasn't his body but his mind and she was doing her best in the type of magic that she best at using. She really was a remarkable child.

Natsu remembered that Wendy looked up to him when she saw him using magic so he decided to have a mock fight with Mystogan. He wanted Wendy to see what she could be capable of doing someday and what offensive dragon slayer magic looked like. She had once learned how to use her magic by studying him. He thought that this would give her a few ideas and he had been itching to stretch his magic against someone who wasn't Lucy for a while.

Lucy and Wendy were watching the mock fight from under the shade of a tree. Lucy made sure to remind Natsu not to go too overboard and overwhelm the young girl. No one wanted her to watch Natsu getting too violent and scare Wendy since she was much younger and never really saw any fights.

Wendy watched with wide eyes as she saw Natsu roar at Mystogan and Lucy made sure to explain what the move was called. She explained that Natsu had learned to fight offensively from a young age and told her how long it took him to perfect the moves. Lucy could see how interested the young girl was but at the same time she wasn't ready to go any further. They had done enough by just letting her see what she could do in the future.

The two men eventually just called the match a tie since they didn't want to kill each other and Natsu went up to Wendy and asked, "Have you ever tried to roar?"

It was the first thing that she had learned to do in the previous time line. She learned to do that all on her own so he supposed that it was a good starting point. It was the first thing that every dragon slayer learned how to do.

Natsu could see that she didn't really believe she could pull it off but he gave her a few tips on how to do it. She was shocked when she managed to pull it off even though it wasn't as strong as the first one she had done. Two and a half years in the future she managed to destroy a huge lacrima but she was still young. Her magic reserves were still small but it was an extremely good starting point.

He gave her a few tips and pointers on how to fine tune and practice some other moves and left her to it. She was just learning and she wasn't in a hurry to learn how to fight. The timid girl really didn't like to fight so much but she knew that learning how to use her magic was important. She went through the basic exercises that Natsu had taught her and they left it at that for now.

Wendy had been interested in meeting another dragon slayer because she wanted to know what happened to her dragon. Natsu knew that he couldn't tell her that at this time Grandeeney was inside her body so he told her that he was sure that one day she would see her dragon again. He couldn't bring himself to tell her that he didn't know. Natsu couldn't lie to her instead he dodged the question and told her that Igneel had left on the same day as Grandeeney.

Natsu and Lucy already had plans to visit her more often and check up on her. Every time they visited they would show her how to use other offensive magic but for now she was far above the place she had been when they first met.

She even seemed to be standing a little taller when Natsu praised her for being able to roar on her first try claiming that it took him days before he was able to do it when he first started his training. It was nice to the glimmer of the girl they had known in the young girl when they were done training. Wendy was proud of how far she was able to come with very little instruction and being as young as she was only showed how limitless her potential could truly be.

Seeing Wendy again had been an experience one that Lucy wouldn't trade for anything. She knew that the people of the guild and the village were not real but they were all kind. She knew that it meant a lot to the village chief that they teach Wendy because he knew that Nirvana wouldn't be kept a secret for very long. Sooner or later they would have to face what they had done and Wendy would be left alone when that time came.

He knew that he would have to leave Wendy behind when it was all said and done but for now they were grateful that they were teaching her how to survive in the world without them. Wendy was a smart, powerful, beautiful girl who would grow into an incredible woman and this place would only limit her. She needed to head out into the real world and he knew that with these people by her side she was going to just fine. He also suspected that they knew the truth but they were going to leave it up to him to tell her the truth when they were ready.

He already had a feeling that Wendy would join Fairy Tail sooner rather than later. He hoped that she would find happiness there. This place was never meant for young child and now it seemed like her friends had come to take her home but she wasn't ready to let go just yet. He had been alone for a very long time so he didn't really mind keeping Wendy here just for a little while longer.

Mystogan had enjoyed being with Wendy. He had missed the younger girl and he had worried about her a lot over the years and to know that the old man had kept his promise and had taken care of her had soothed his mind. Wendy had also found Carla here which gave her a best friend and that was something else he could be grateful for.

He couldn't help but feel pride as well when she managed to do a little baby dragon roar. If he considered the stories that Lucy had told him of her he shouldn't have been so shocked. However the fact that she was able to do it still somehow managed to surprise him. She was so young and to have so much potential was staggering and at the same time it was different to see her potential for himself. It was really going to be fun to watch as she learned how to soar through the skies.

They stayed with Wendy for one week and in that time Lucy mainly spent her training time with her spirits. Capricorn explained to her that since she had the whole zodiac there were some spells that would be available for her to use.

"Why didn't you guys tell me when I first got the keys?" she asked and Loke rolled his eyes at her.

"There wasn't enough time for you to learn them Lucy. You were in the middle of a war not training, besides its never been done before. Its possible in theory but no one has ever held the entire zodiac and with all the meditating that you've been doing, your magic has expanded a great deal. You finally managed to master Urano Metria." Replied Loke.

Lucy bit her lip in thought, "Isn't Urano Metria a spell?" she asked and Capricorn shook his head.

"Urano Metria is the only celestial spell that can be cast using the mages power. It's the only caster magic that exists for a celestial mage to use and there are no other spells. We are talking about combining keys to create spells or offensive attacks. Without the keys the spells will not work but Urano Metria works whether or not you are in possession of your keys." Explained Capricorn.

Lucy worked her magic, her star dresses and fighting against her spirits while Natsu and Mystogan fought each other. She noticed that they both picked up a few tricks from each other. Wendy was really impressed at how fluidly they fought until Natsu decided that he and Lucy needed to work on their team work so she was tagged into battle.

The two of them made a devastating team. Lucy's intelligence combined with Natsu's sheer magical force combined with the fact that the two of them seemed to be able to read each other's mind actually left him unconscious but Natsu refused to take it a real win because he didn't win in a one on one fight.

Wendy broke up their mock fighting to announce that Siegrain was awake and Mystogan and Lucy went in to see him. Natsu took Wendy away and showed her a couple other offensive abilities that he knew she would be able to master if she tried really hard. He knew that he didn't have much tact so he left the explaining to Lucy.

"What happened to me?" he asked Lucy them both while staring at Mystogan and Lucy smiled at him gently.

"Do you remember everything Jellal?" she asked and he nodded his head.

A few tears slipping down his face and she wrapped her arms around him. She couldn't help it. He just seemed so lost and broken in that moment that she wanted him to know everything was going to be alright.

"I have a long story to tell you and when I'm done we can figure out what you want to do next."

Then Lucy started with how she met Natsu two years from now. She explained everything that happened since then and why they ended up back here. She told him everything that he did wrong and what he did right and she told him about Ezra. It was a long story and when it was over he fell asleep and she went looking for Natsu.

"And now what happens?" he asked and Lucy merely stared at the stars in the sky.

She had spent the entire day explaining the future to Jellal and now they were left to wait for him to digest and come to terms with everything that he learnt.

"I don't know. It depends on what he wants to do in the future." She replied and the couple stood there under the stars waiting for a broken man to put the pieces of himself back together and find his way back to the person he loved more than anything else in the world.

"Do you think he'll make it through this?" asked Natsu and Lucy smiled.

"He loves Ezra, even in the depths of his madness he was consumed with his need to choose her. No one else was good enough for him. He'll make it through this and then he'll come home to her."

Natsu rested his forehead on hers and Lucy smiled because it was something that he did all the time. When he needed comfort or when he was giving her comfort or when he just needed her to know that he was here for her.

"Just like I'll always come back home to you."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Jellal woke up confused and with no idea where he was. He searched the room only to find it pretty bare. He seemed to be in a hut of some sort and he was lying on a bed but there was nothing inside the room. Almost like no one lived here or never decorated it. There was a set of clothes on the dresser next to him so he put them on and tried to remember what he was doing here.

It took him a few minutes to really wake up but once he did he remembered everything that Lucy had told him. He walked out of the room that they had him in and saw both Lucy sparring with what he guessed were her spirits. One was wearing a suit but he looked like a goat and then he noticed someone who looked like his twin brother sparring with a pink haired guy and there was a little girl with long blue hair who seemed to be meditating.

His eyes narrowed as he looked at the girl. Her magic reserves would grow as she grew but her magic power was extremely powerful for one so young. She would likely be a prodigy child or a user of lost magic. The guy who looked like his twin was technically an alternate version of himself. Jellal remembered Lucy telling him about Edolas but saying that they didn't talk about that world anymore. They didn't want someone to try and reach that dimension.

He knew that his counterpart would be saying that they were twin brothers and he couldn't really find it in himself to care. He never had a family. It would be nice to have a brother. Then again, this was the first time in years that he was in full control of his thoughts and actions. He owed the other man for kidnapping and getting him the help he needed. He didn't mind that they would be considered twins.

The pink haired guy was Natsu, a dragon slayer and Lucy's husband. He could feel his magic power and it was immense. That guy would probably give him a really good fight. Then again he was the guy who kicked his ass when he went totally nuclear in an alternate version of the future. He seemed to be on a much higher level than anyone he could remember encountering.

Jellal sat down under a tree and enjoyed the breeze. He knew that they were all watching him but he could bring himself to care. He supposed that if he knew someone that had been possessed and insane, he would keep a close eye on them as well.

The truth was for a really long time he felt like he was living underwater and seeing things through a dirty window glass. It was like being surrounded by noise and not even being able to hear yourself think or speak. It was like he was in a room filled with screaming people and he couldn't hear his own voice even when he screamed at the top of his lungs.

Then everything just went silent and with the silence came peace. He wanted to feel the sun on his skin and the breeze on his face and feel himself breathe. He wanted to know that every move he made was of his own free will. He wanted to watch the world with his own eyes. He just wanted a moment to come to terms with everything that he found out and his own freedom.

There were no whispers in his head, no voices telling him things that only he could hear and for so long he had fought against the chains that held him prisoner inside his own mind. He had thrown himself against the bars of a cage in his mind.

He had pulled at the chains until his wrists were raw and bleeding. He shouted until his throat was hoarse and then he just stopped. He couldn't make it out so he huddled into a corner, shut his eyes and covered his ears and just remembered Erza. She was the happiest memory that he held so held onto her with everything that he had.

Now that he was free, it was like he was discovering what it meant to be able to walk on his own two feet again. There had been moments of clarity. He knew that but as the years passed he had lost the strength to fight and those moments had become few and far in between episodes.

Jellal had no idea what to do with himself, hell he didn't even know what he actually liked and disliked. He had been a slave as a child and then he had been a slave to a voice that only he could hear. He had never made a single choice for himself in years and suddenly the world seemed like a very large and confusing place. A place that he didn't fit in anymore.

Jellal thought back to his good memories, where it had been him making the decisions and choices. The one thing that stood out clearly was the fact that he could remember Erza. When he thought of her, his heart hurt. When he realized what he had done to her and their family and he wanted to die of shame. He single handedly destroyed their family, ruined her life and probably haunted her nightmares for years afterwards and then he decided to construct that godforsaken tower.

That tower was the reason why they had all been captured as children. It was the reason why they had no families, why they were slaves who dreamed of freedom and he had kept the construction going. He had never been more horrified in that moment. When he realized that he had become the same type of person as those who had imprisoned them on that godforsaken island. He had no idea where to even begin to put things right.

Natsu had seen Jellal sitting under the tree and he moved towards him but Lucy shook her head, "Give him some time to think Natsu. Everything that he knows is a lie and he just heard about a war in the coming years, let him digest everything that happened."

Natsu just pouted at her. He didn't want to wait anymore. He finally decided how he was going to deal with Laxus. The only way that they could do that was if Jellal decided to get his head out of his ass and deal with everything. However he knew that usually when you drop so much life changing information on someone they usually need a moment to breathe and come to terms with everything. He just was not a patient person.

Lucy smiled at her husband and walked towards him. Jellal would need someone to talk too and Natsu was not the right choice for that conversation. Lucy took a seat in front of him, not saying a word but enjoying the breeze while Natsu and Mystogan worked off their nervous energy.

She was just there, sitting next to him not pushing him to talk or anything but at the same time trying to let him know that he wasn't alone anymore. All he had to do was ask and they would help him. He just needed to take their hand of friendship.

"I don't know what to do now." He told her after some time and Lucy smiled gently at him, glad that he decided to confide in her instead of running for the hills and hiding in the deepest darkest cave so that he couldn't hurt anyone.

She knew it sounded silly but there had been a couple of times that she looked at him and he looked like he wanted to run for his life or beat his own head in. This wasn't going to be easy for him. He had made mistakes but she had faith that he could make it right. He had done so before even if he didn't believe that he made a difference.

"You do better Jellal. I helped you now because I loved Erza like a sister and I wanted to save her a lot of pain. However that wasn't the only reason. I helped you because everything that happened wasn't your fault. You were used, corrupted as a child and then brain washed. I know that knowing that you were controlled doesn't make it much better because you blame yourself. In the other timeline, once you were sane again you spent a lot of your life seeking atonement for your sins. That might not mean much to you but it counts for something. It means that if it was your choice you wouldn't have chosen that path. Now, you can make sure you don't make the same mistakes."

Jellal never felt more out of his depth in his life. For so long he hadn't made a single choice and now there was a world of choices out there that he didn't know where to start.

"I don't know where to start or what to do." He confessed to her and Lucy's eyes saddened. The possession had done so much damage. He had just suffered that damage quietly in prison while they were asleep on Tenrou Island for seven years.

"You could go back to the tower and tell your friends the truth. You can set them free from the path that they're on and then retire from the council. You can tell the council that you're young and you want to explore the world without the burden of being a wizard saint. You can introduce the world to your younger twin brother Jellal who now goes by the name of Mystogan. You can build a new life as Siegrain, come with us and help us fight against the people that used you to hurt your family." Replied Lucy and for the first time since he had woken up he smiled at her.

Jellal had patiently listened as she painted a picture of what the future could look like. Finally he had an idea of what to do with his life and it really didn't seem like a bad idea. In fact it was a lot like finding redemption. He had done some awful things and he was finally free of the voices and the darkness. He could build his own future with his own hands and fighting against the people who used him to hurt innocent people seemed like a really good idea.

Natsu had discussed his idea with Mystogan. He was technically supposed to be Jellal's twin brother. It was only fair that he have a say in this because Natsu needed his help as well. He didn't even feel guilty that Lucy wasn't included in this part of the plan because after getting rid of his possession Lucy didn't really have a plan for Jellal.

She just wanted to save Erza a lot of pain and ensure that he didn't end up a wanted criminal because that meant that he couldn't be seen helping people which kind of limited his interference. Jellal was powerful enough to be named a wizard saint.

The fact that he wasn't able to fight out in the open meant that many times he was unable to get involved in places where his powers could have been a huge advantage. Now that he was free however Lucy didn't know what to do with him.

After all she didn't want to force him into doing something that he didn't want to do. She wanted him to choose what he wanted to do with his life not just go along with what she said because she helped him. Natsu was just going to suggest a path that he could take and hope that he went along with it.

"I'm going to go to meet up with the others. They aren't actually far from here. Simon and the others often came to towns to buy supplies. I'll explain to them what happened, tell them where they could find Erza and leave them to live their own lives. After that I'll go to the council."

Jellal had made his decision and Natsu was relieved, "When you're done come back here, Mystogan will be waiting for you."

Lucy narrowed her eyes at him, "What are you planning Natsu?" she hissed at him and he just chuckled.

"Nothing bad, Mystogan and I talked about what would happen next. Mystogan will take him back to Fairy Tail so he can meet Gramps and become a guild member if he wants and then Mystogan and Siegrain are going to take Laxus on a little trip." He replied.

Lucy didn't like where this was headed. Laxus was a powerful mage even if he was an asshole at this point in time. The three of them teaming up was just asking for trouble. A mage powerful enough to be a wizard saint and two S-class mages was just asking for trouble especially with Fairy Tail's luck. Who did Natsu want them to take on? Grimoire Heart?

"You want a wizard saint and two S-class mages to go do what exactly?" she cried out in panic at the thought of the destruction that they were probably capable of and he just ruffled his hair.

"Don't know what they're going to do exactly. Mystogan might be able to get gramps permission to take a SS class mission."

Lucy interrupted him before he could finish speaking, "An SSS class mission is a 100 year quest but what's an SS class mission?"

Natsu forgot that Lucy didn't know everything about guild yet. She didn't know about the rarer stuff that isn't spoken about often, "An SS class mission is when several S class mages team up to complete a job. A normal S class mission requires only on S class mage and they can bring other mages as back up. Its similar to how Ezra took us when she faced Lullaby and how Mira takes her siblings on jobs. An SS class mission requires all mages to be S class and an SSS class mission is only rated that high due to the long amount of time needed to complete the quest and the presence of an S class mage."

"So there's more danger but why do you want Laxus to go on one of those missions with them?" asked Lucy and Natsu gave her his famous fanged grin, pulling her down into his lap and combing his fingers through her hair.

He didn't know why he kept on doing it but ever since they got back into the past every time they started discussing things he would pull her into his lap and comb through her hair. Her scent was strongest on her neck and it usually calmed him but he really just wanted to be cuddling her as much as he possibly could.

"Laxus is obsessed with power and thinks that he is only important because he is related by blood to Gramps. He also doesn't understand the guild. Jellal can train him and Mystogan can kick his ass and teach him the meaning of nakama. He just needs a bit of a reality check and two guys that can kick his ass seems like a good place to teach him some humility." Replied Natsu.

Lucy smiled at Natsu and pecked his lips. She had to admit that Laxus once he returned to the guild after being expelled had been a monster. When he defeated Jura it showed how powerful he could be and when he crushed Raven Tail she was proud of him. He defended the guild against his own father something that he once hated his grandfather for doing.

He was passionate, everything that he did, he did it because he loved Fairy Tail. He wanted it to be the best but he didn't understand why his grandfather made the decisions that he did. He was also one of the most complex, stubborn people that she had met and Natsu might have on to something with this idea.

Laxus had found himself when he went on his journey of self-discovery before being readmitted into the guild. However she knew that he needed more than just self-discovery. He needed someone to kick his ass and help him understand what it meant to be a fairy Tail mage. Natsu and Gajeel kicking his ass had brought about the change in his thinking the last time. He would need it again and his team needed some time away from Laxus, to develop themselves. They had all grown in the time that Laxus had been away. It was a perfect time to push them all in better directions earlier.

Natsu growled when she pulled away after pecking his lips and started to nibble on her neck until he left dark bruise on her. It was high enough that no collar or scarf would be able to block it and he grinned to himself. Lucy hated it when he left love bites where people could see them. It embarrassed her but he liked seeing his marks on her so he kissed her on her forehead.

Lucy kissed Natsu when he pulled away from her neck. They both chuckled when they heard Wendy 'eep' and hid her blushing her face when she accidently walked in on them while Carla simply huffed. Lucy didn't know if it was in exasperation or anger.

Carla had always been protective of Wendy but this time she made her disapproval of the young girls choices very clearly. She didn't like the fact that Wendy was willing to trust Natsu and a whole bunch of other people that she hadn't seen in years or met before. She was glad that Wendy was growing more into her powers but at the same time she didn't want her to be so trusting of strangers. All in all it was what Lucy expected from the she-cat.

Happy was more like Natsu's best friend. They got into and out of trouble together. Panterlily had been Gajeel's partner but Carla was more like a mother/big sister to Wendy. She had always been overly protective of the young girl and a little bit bossy trying to make up for Wendy's timidness. This meant that she was not very fond of the strangers who arrived and had Wendy use her healing magic on a kidnapped man for days.

For a moment Lucy wondered what happened to Panterlily. He had come to Earthland with Mystogan and the exceeds had left to go find somewhere to build their new village. She hadn't seen him for days. In fact, she was pretty sure that he was gone as soon as Mystogan arrived safely into their home. Happy hadn't even met him as far as she knew. When she voiced the question Mystogan simply replied that he wanted to travel for a little while on his own.

Panterlily was curious about the differences in this world and the one from which he had come. He promised to come back soon but he had been a solider for so long that he never really had a chance to take a vacation and explore the world and now he had a land filled with magic to discover. Mystogan had only been too happy to send him on a holiday. He was happy to see him making decisions for himself. Besides, the exceed could take care of himself and if he needed help then he knew where he would it.

Panterlily also knew about the alternate time line and decided to see if there was any information that he could find. Mystogan had given him a list of the enemies that Lucy told him about, warning him not to get close to them. They didn't upset the timeline any more than they already had. Mystogan assumed he would travel for a couple months maybe look for Gajeel or something and then come home. At least he hoped that he would.

Jellal had left a few minutes afterwards to face his friends that he had been lying too and set the record straight. Then he was going to go send the council his resignation letter. He would be back in three days so Mystogan decided to wait with Wendy while Natsu and Lucy went back home. They had been gone almost two weeks and people would soon wonder what happened to him if he didn't show up soon. It was good thing that Erza wasn't around because she would have hunted him down by now.

Happy had been spared the journey by going on a fishing trip and then choosing to stay home. Natsu assumed that he had been feeling a little left out lately since he had been spending so much time training Lucy. He decided that once he got back, he would take Happy on a job just the two of them, like the good old days.

He didn't want the little guy thinking that he was abandoning him. He had just been a little caught up in Lucy. He also hadn't wanted Happy to meet Carla just yet because it would break his little heart when they would have to go home without her.

When he mentioned it to Lucy she just smiled and told him to have fun on their job. She was still trying to learn some stuff from her spirits so she didn't mind that he wouldn't be around to spar with her. Happy was important to Natsu and just because they got married didn't mean that he couldn't spend some time with him. Happy did think of Natsu as his father. It was only fair that he make some time for him.

The guild had been quiet for nearly two months and Master Makarov was suspicious. He knew his brats better than anyone and he knew that while they were all passionate in their journeys as mages. They were also highly destructive.

Fairy Tail mages were never quiet and they never just followed someone around weakly. They blazed their ways to the future with fire and passion in their eyes. They didn't care what anyone thought of them. They lived life by their own rules and anyone who didn't understand that wasn't one of them and thus their opinions were deemed unimportant.

Erza and Mira had contacted him every two weeks since they had gone off on their training journey and he had to admit he was at first skeptical of what they wanted to do. Mira had to come to guild ashamed of her powers and afraid of it. People didn't understand it or her and so they feared her. In turn it made the young girl fear herself but once she had come here and she learned how to control her powers. Mira had become one of the youngest most powerful people in the guild.

The Demon Mirajane they called her. Only he saw her for what she truly was and she was a young girl who had been scorned and torn down and so she locked her heart away and put on a show. She was mean and scary. She had a short temper and wore short skirts. She was cruel and loud. All those things made people look at her in different ways.

It also ensured that none of them would get close to her and if they couldn't get close to her then no-one could hurt her. She had become so powerful that she believed that she didn't need people and that they didn't matter. She was getting over confident as well, and that could be life threatening to mages who overestimated their abilities.

Mira was trying to protect her heart by acting like she didn't have one because she knew how it felt to be rejected by society. No matter who turned their backs on her, her siblings loved her and they worshipped the ground she walked on. She protected them just as fiercely as they protected her but she had just come very close to losing Lisanna.

It had shaken her confidence and shattered her arrogance. Mira had the potential to be extremely kind and caring if only she would allow herself to show people that she cared. He believed that after this accident she would calm down some.

She was getting older. Mira was already nineteen years old and it was high time that she grew up and matured out of her bad girl phase. It was time she realize that there is no shame in being kind. He believed that nearly losing Lisanna would be a good reality check for her and when she returned she would be even stronger because she would be wiser as well.

One thing that he always hated about life was that it was one of the harshest teachers out there. You get tested before you learn the lesson but by God do you learn a lesson. Experience is the only thing in this world that would be able to make you wise. Power isn't just about who punches the hardest and Mira has now learned that lesson.

He was curious to see the woman that she would become. The insecure girl was gone he was sure of that. Mira would return a woman, a wiser more powerful and more confident woman because she would have finally accepted her weaknesses.

She had realized that it was alright to have flaws and make mistakes. She had learned to work through them rather than pretend they don't exist. She finally understood that there was no such thing as perfection. The world was filled with people trying to do their best in a world where its far too easy to do your worst. Mira was finally growing up and learning the important lessons of life.

Erza was still young and she was a little head strong but he believed that all she really needed was a friend. She needed someone who would be able to see past her armor and see the girl underneath and let that blossom.

Erza just needed to relax a little but she was young and doing well for herself and he was proud of her. She always stuck very closely to the rules and while he appreciated it because she didn't cause much trouble she needed to realize that sometimes rules were meant to be bent or broken. She didn't need to be perfect either. She needed to realize that it was okay to relax and take some time off.

She would have much to teach Gray and he had a lot to learn from her. They would make an interesting team to see but what he was currently worried about was Natsu.

The boy had been different for two months now. He didn't know why or what had changed but he suddenly seemed very grown up and mature. He was very different from the person who walked out the guild one day, who had up and left with no warning and didn't even take Happy with him. Then returned to the guild and he was different.

Natsu often dropped off the face of the earth in his search for his father. It happened many times in the past but every time he went away he always came back the same way with a grin on his face. Natsu masked his pain by fighting and being energetic but he never returned like this. He had even gone so far as to tell Lisanna that he found some answers but no one knew what exactly he had found out.

Master Makarov even wondered whether someone was controlling him or impersonating him. He had been wearing those weird gloves lately and that was strange. Natsu usually didn't like having cloth cover his hands because he would often light his hands on fire but his magic was still the same. In fact his magic levels had increased by quite a bit in a small amount of time but he was always saying he was training.

He was also sure that the boy was masking some of his magic but Makarov wasn't sure if he was doing it unconsciously or not. Masking your magic was a high level technique and he didn't see any reason Natsu would have to do something like that. Someone like Gildarts or even himself would mask their magic so the pressure didn't hurt anyone or cause them to faint but Natsu couldn't have become so powerful in such a short amount of time.

Natsu still took jobs and came to the guild but he had been coming around less and less. He could also chalk that up to the fact that almost everyone from the younger generation had gone away on their training sessions. Makarov still couldn't believe that Cana was Gildarts daughter. None of them figured it out and he wondered whether or not the guild would still be standing when his brats came back.

"Then make us a practice area where we can challenge each other and get Freed and Levy to put runes everywhere." Replied Natsu and the master stared at him in shock. He didn't even realize that he had been talking out loud but the idea did have some merit.

"We are family, we don't fight each other Natsu." He responded and Natsu rolled his eyes.

"When they all get back they're going to want to test their abilities against each other. We are family and we look up to each other but at the same time we want to know the differences in our strength. We want to know how much further we have to go. This isn't about fighting to hurt each other. It's a sparring match so we know how far we have to go to reach our goals."

Makarov couldn't argue with that. Hell he couldn't even believe that advice had just come from Natsu but he had to admit that the brat had a point. Mira and Erza were always fighting wanting to know who was the stronger mage between them. Natsu and Gray could tear down the guild if they really wanted too and even Laxus would join in now and then to test his abilities against Mira or even Erza if she could annoy him enough to fight her.

He was going to have to go see Levy and Freed about some runes and a defensive barrier of some sort. In fact a training area sounded like a good idea. A lot of the younger mages were always testing their abilities and it would be a good idea to have a safe place where they could practice their magic.

A place where they could fight and not destroy the town. It would also give them a safe place to practice without damaging the town or the forest. There were only so many trees that they could cut down before people started complaining.

Natsu seemed happy enough that he had taken his suggestion to heart so he took another job from the request board and decided to spend some time with Happy. His partner had been excited to spend some time with him. It made Natsu feel more than a little bit guilty that he had been spending so little time with him. He promised himself that he would try to make more time for him so that he didn't get so involved with training and Lucy that he neglected his best friend.

Happy couldn't help but be excited that he and Natsu would be going on a mission without Lucy. He really did like her. She smelled nice and cooked them food and she always gave him a fish but he missed hanging out with Natsu. Lucy rarely went on jobs and whenever they were home Natsu would spend hours training with her and he refused to let him go to the guild. Then again most of their guild mates weren't there so there wasn't much for him to do.

Happy didn't understand why they didn't want anyone knowing that they had gotten married. Natsu was always so happy with Lucy that he didn't really care about the details but he had missed hanging out with his friend.

The two set of on their mission and Lucy made them both a good lunch and wished them luck. She still had a lot of magical training to do and she was determined to master at least one of the new spells that she was trying to use. It was harder because no one else in the history of celestial magic ever tried to do something like this before. She had a plan in case some things came to pass and she was going to get this right even if it took her all week, which was as long as Natsu assumed he would be gone.

She smiled as she passed a picture of her and Natsu on the wall. Her father insisted that they take a picture even though they weren't dressed in wedding clothes. She was wearing her pink gown and Natsu wore a suit and they were holding hands in such a way that you could see their wedding rings.

She couldn't help but laugh to herself. She had spent so long denying her feelings for him and then they ended up in this impossible situation where she not even three weeks later she married him.

When she really thought about ii sounded like she married a stranger. Technically she had only seen him twice before they married and they had known each other for three weeks. She grimaced the guild was going to lose their mind. They could try and say whatever they wanted but somehow someone would figure out that they only met three weeks before they got married. They would never hear the end of it.

In fact, she was pretty sure that they wouldn't be able to explain why they got married. Anyone that had known her or Natsu would know that there was no way for them to cross paths. He had been a mage and Lucy had rarely ever been allowed out of the mansion. Then they woke up in the past and he crashed through the ceiling and no one knew why but them. It was going to be something that they would need to think about for future reference.

Lucy thought of Mira for a moment and wondered if Natsu would want a ceremony. They had only signed a wedding certificate and even though they had exchanged rings she always wanted to buy a white dress and have a nice wedding.

She would talk to him about it when he returned and ask him if he would a ceremony or not. It would also help calm the guild down if they got to be part of the wedding. She hummed to herself as she started on dinner and decided to think about that later. She still had a lot of training to do and plenty of time to think about having a ceremony later.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter nine

AN: Do you guys want a NALU wedding ceremony? I have referenced it but I haven't made up my mind. Review and lemme know.

Mystogan walked into the guild after putting everyone to sleep with Siegrain by his side. Siegrain had returned with a bleeding lip from where Millianna had punched him after their talk. However when Simon told them that he knew something was up with him, the rest of them were forced to admit that there had been something off about his behavior ever since that day. Now that they knew the truth the group decided to tour the world.

They all felt too guilty to face Erza just yet. He did tell them where they could find her if they wanted to talk to her. He knew that they would go to her eventually but for now they were finally free to make their own choices. They wanted to see what the world had to offer before they came home and faced their pasts. He could understand wanting to get some distance before having to face the past. It was kind of his plan as well.

Siegrain had planned on speaking with her as well but he didn't have the courage to face her just yet. He needed to figure out who he was and what he was going to do before he faced her. He needed time, clarity, and to somehow figure out the man he was going to become. When he told Mystogan that he wasn't ready to face the whole guild and that he didn't know how to move forward the other man had a good suggestion for him.

"You spent most of your life locked away as a slave and then a prisoner of your own mind. Natsu wanted me to take Laxus on a job and beat the meaning of nakama into him but you should come with us as well. We'll take the long way and a couple extra jobs and explore the world a little so you can see whats really out there with your own eyes and make your own choices. Then when we get back Erza will be at the guild and you can talk to her."

He shed the name Jellal afterwards. Jellal had been a slave and a prisoner of his own mind but Siegrain was a wizard saint. He had officially retired but it didn't change the fact that Siegrain was who he hoped to be when he had been a slave. He was someone strong who had been in a position to protect people even though at the time it was just another game to him.

It was his way of reinventing himself and leaving the past behind him while baring his sins. Siegrain was a name he created in the depths of his own madness. He was determined to carry that reminder for the rest of his life. He wanted to remember how far he had fallen for future reference.

Mystogan picked up the tiny form his master and noticed the grin that was Siegrain's face as he did so. He barely refrained from rolling his eyes at him. Mystogan could see the humor but really did he have to be so obvious about it.

They took the master up to his office and once the door was locked he woke everyone up. No sense in leaving everyone asleep while he spoke to Makarov in his office. This conversation could take some so he would put them back to sleep when they left, or they could just silently travel away before anyone could see them.

Makarov knew about the Edolas world. He knew that Mystogan was the counterpart to Jellal on Earthland however several things always put the master on guard around the young wizard saint. Siegrain was supposedly the twin brother of Jellal and his record was spotless. It had been part of the plan that Ultear had created. She was the one who came up with the idea that Jellal and Siegrain would be twins. She knew that eventually the tower would be noticed and once it was they were going to blame it on Jellal while Siegrain played the council.

Makarov could sense darkness coming from him and he never trusted him. Now that Makarov was in the room with both boys there was nothing indicating dark magic. When he woke up to see both blue haired men together he had questions. There was also the feeling that something big was about to happen that was going to give him many headaches.

"What's going on Mystogan?" asked Makarov, preparing himself to hear the worst but not expecting the story that his child had told him.

Mystogan launched into the full story, explaining that he travelled to Edolas and ensured that connection between the two worlds would be severed. He told the master that he chose to remain in this world as he had spent most his life here and didn't want to leave the guild.

Makarov was touched that the boy would choose this world over the one that he had been borne too but at the same time he could understand not wanting to leave the place he saw as home.

"I met someone on my travels who told me that Jellal was possessed and I helped clear the taint from his mind and now he is completely sane."

Makarov didn't know where to start with his questions on that sentence so Siegrain explained his past and how it included Erza. He explained that he was listening to the voices and that they had a plan that he couldn't remember or even understand now that he was once again sane. He spoke of the girl, one that he was sure that whispered in his ears but he didn't know who she was or where she came from.

Siegrain explained that there was a different girl who figured out that he was possessed and decided to help him get rid of the taint. She knew about Edolas and gave him the chance to choose which world he wanted to stay in. Once he had done so they decided that after making Siegrain sane again, the two would pose as twin brothers to explain why they looked so a like.

"Who is this girl?" he asked and Mystogan replied to him, "A friend, she's busy but she'll eventually come to the guild and I'll introduce you to her when she's ready."

Makarov let it go. He trusted his children and Mystogan never did anything without reason so if he was protecting this girl then he would leave it at that for now. Besides he was a patient old man. Mystogan said that he would introduce her eventually so he would wait for her to come to them when she was ready. There were plenty of mages who travelled the world, searching for adventure, to study their magic or just for a home until they decided to join a guild. He could give her some time to find what she was looking for.

"So you have come to join the guild?" Makarov asked Siegrain and he straightened his back and nodded his head. He owed this guild more than they knew. Lucy was one of them even if they didn't know it and it was her idea to save him and he wanted to make it up Erza.

The master stared at him and he could feel the guilt and remorse coming from him. He was a good man and without the darkness that he once carried Makarov believed that he could put his faith in him. Fairy Tail was a family. This young man was searching for redemption and a place to belong after clawing himself out of a place of deep darkness.

Makarov was never a person who turned people away especially when they needed help. He handed him the guild stamp and raised an eyebrow waiting for him to take the final step. Siegrain marked his left arm in scarlet and became a member of Fairy Tail.

"We also need you to call Laxus, we're going on an adventure." Mystogan said it as he played with one of his staffs.

Mystogan said it so casually that Makarov nodded his head absently going so far as to giving them the communication lacrima because he wasn't sure where his grandson currently was and then paused. Mystogan merely gave the master a blood thirsty grin and Siegrain chuckled quietly before the poor man nearly fainted.

"What are you boys planning?" he asked and Siegrain just shrugged, "I was told he could be powerful enough to challenge a wizard saint, we're going on a little excursion."

Makarov's eyes widened as Siegrains eyes flashed gold and for a moment he wondered if he looked like that when he used his magic and then he asked, "You are bringing him back right?"

Makarov couldn't help but ask. These boys were both exceptionally powerful mages and they wanted to join forces with his grandson. A mage of considerable power and experience even if he was currently a pain in the ass. They were planning something.

For two boys who were only pretending to be twins they did read each other very well. He couldn't help but wonder if Laxus would come back in one piece. They didn't look like they were going to be going easy on him, or even if it would be friendly. They were more like sharks smelling blood in the water.

Siegrain chuckled and Mystogan raised his hand in scouts honor, "Promise, he'll come back maybe not in one piece but he'll be back eventually."

Makarov couldn't really get anything more out of them. Laxus was in the guild (surprisingly), he had returned from a job just yesterday so Mystogan went to get him. Siegrain grabbed two s-class requests and one SS-class request even though he technically shouldn't have done that since he technically was not an S-class mage.

Although he was a former wizard who had more or less formed a team with two S-class wizards so he let it go and watched them all but ninja Laxus out of the guild. Siegrain left telling Makarov to inform his grandsons team that he won't be around for a couple of months and that they should train and entertain themselves until he returned.

Makarov watched the twins drag a very confused Laxus out the guild, talking a mile a minute and for a moment he wondered if they really would be alright. Then again Laxus was a stubborn bastard so he should be fine. Maybe he would learn something or maybe he would come back in a worse mood but in the end he should be fine.

Those three could probably handle anything that was thrown at them. He should actually probably wonder about the amount of damages he would have to cover and if the guild would be able to do it without going bankrupt.

When they were gone, Mystogan finally ended the illusion spell that kept people from seeing them ninja Laxus out of the guild. The first thing Freed did was look around and realize that he couldn't find Laxus anywhere and they were just talking about doing another job in a few days once he rested.

"Master what happened to Laxus?" he called out and everyone turned to him.

They were waiting for an answer once they realized that the blonde man had been sitting next to his team one minute and seemingly disappeared into thin air in the next.

"Mystogan required his help. They'll be gone for a few months and they said to tell you to train and entertain yourselves until he comes back." Replied Makarov calmly.

Makarov ignored the look of shock on their faces. Mystogan had been a very mysterious member of the guild but since he no longer had to worry about Edolas and the anima. He could finally build bonds with the people in the guild instead of always hiding.

Then again he was supposed to have a twin brother now so maybe he would help in getting him more socialized. He would introduce Siegrain when they returned and after Erza had the chance to speak with him and resolve their past. It wasn't his place to reveal him until he was ready to face her.

Makarov couldn't help but look forward to their return even if Laxus hadn't learned anything from them. Makarov could at least look forward to Mystogan finally coming out of his shell and making some real friends. The man had spent most of his time in this world alone and even though he didn't have many friends he still decided to stay with them.

His loyalty to the guild was something that Makarov respected. Things would change in the coming months especially with so many of his brats on so many different journeys. He knew that when they all returned they would be on the path to a new adventure.

Lucy had figured out how to use the focus stone on her weapon to create fire. It was the first element that she focused on learning since Natsu needed to eat flames to replenish his energy life would be a lot easier if she could create a meal for him in the middle of battle.

She always remembered that fight with Gajeel when he came to save her. She hadn't been able to help him power up until the absolute last minute and it always grated on her nerves a little. She hated being helpless. She had noticed however that the flames were not very powerful. The spell was extremely basic. Romeo's flames would probably be more powerful than the ones she could create.

Lucy could create a flame and then create a mini explosion to burn something non-magical. All in all the flames would not damage a mage. At least not a mage of considerable power. At best it could be used as a distraction and it could be used to increase her offensive attacks as she used the staff.

She noticed that when she spun the staff in tight circles while maintaining the flame she was able to create a shield of fire that would do a little more damage than normal. It also created a good defense.

Lucy had been warned though that this technique would not be very powerful. It did give her a slight edge in battle. It was nice to have an ace up her sleeve just in case even if it wouldn't hurt anyone it could be used as a distraction or as food for Natsu.

She was however getting no-where with creating spells that she could use with her keys. To be honest she was having a little trouble understanding the theory of what Capricorn was telling her to do.

Capricorn had told her in theory she could combine her spirits defensive powers or their offensive powers into a single attack but she didn't know where to even start with something like that. Loke could feel her confusion and opened his gate to come and try to help. There was a very limited amount of knowledge that they had to share. It was truly up to her and her power level and intelligence to see if she could come up with something like this but Loke had faith that she could do this.

Their magic was always looked down upon and the spirits did take offense to things like that. Their magic wasn't weak, not by a long shot. It was just never truly explored. Celestial mages could be cruel and because of that no spirit ever wanted to truly help their mages.

To explore their depths of their magic needed trust between spirit and master. They didn't deserve to do this if they only saw spirits as tools. It was also extremely hard to gather all the keys, something that was needed to explore the magic further.

There had been kind masters before like Layla however she wasn't interested in exploring magic further. She got ill and didn't want to fight. There had been other mages who were interested but they didn't have the magic ability nor did they have enough keys. Lucy was the first to be kind, trustworthy and she gathered all the keys.

"I don't know where to even start Loke." She told him and he could see that she was taking this very seriously. She was surrounded by books all of which referenced celestial magic but he could also sense her frustration since she wasn't getting anywhere.

Loke didn't know what she thought they meant by creating celestial spells. He decided to just ask her what she was looking for or hoping to find in these books. There was no way she was going to find a step by step manual by looking in her books. This had never been done before. There was no written manual or guide, she was technically writing the manual.

"Lucy what are you trying to create? What did you think you would be able to do when you were told that you might be able to create a celestial spell?" he asked and Lucy narrowed her eyes at him but not in anger but confusion.

"I thought I would be able to use it in battle." She replied and Loke shook his head at her, resisting the urge to face-palm. Lucy knew that celestial magic wasn't like maker magic or even dragon slayer magic. It would never be caster magic but every time she thought about powering up, she was thinking of doing something that was like caster magic.

"When you say that do you mean like how Gray uses magic?" he asked already knowing what she was thinking, probably chanting something and things going 'boom'.

Lucy shrugged, "I don't know." She bit her lip and realized that she didn't even know what she thought she was going to create, "I was thinking along the lines of Urano Metria."

Loke sighed when he realized that he had been right all along. She was trying to create something similar to Urano Metria, "That's not how it works. Spells like that are technically caster magic which is why you nearly pass out every time you used it before your magic levels grew. You aren't a caster mage, your power comes from your keys. You need to think more along the lines of a unison raids."

Lucy thought about her spirits and when they were used in battle. Scorpio, Natsu and Wendy during their battle with Hades managed to do a unison raid. Scorpio and Taurus could join their powers together as well. She knew that because they managed to do it in the Grand Magic Games when they fought against Flare. Her spirits actually did unison raids quite often.

"A celestial spell using your keys will be similar to a unison raid. You will get one extremely powerful defensive or offensive blast of magic and how we manage to do that is up to you. That's what we need you to figure out but it won't be for repeated use. It will be a final attack or some sort of shield."

Lucy nodded her head and sent Loke home. Now that she had a better idea on what she was supposed to be trying to do she could better understand her magic. She wouldn't be able to create several spells like she first believed. It would probably be more along the lines of a final spell in a battle and probably something that she needed a few minutes to gather her power to cast similar to the Urano Metria.

It would either be on the same level as Urano Metria if it was offensive or a defensive spell. She decided to work on the defense spell first she didn't have much defensive magic besides her own ability to protect herself.

Lucy was already going through her keys and calculating their defensive magic to see which had the most powerful defensive magic. The first would definitely be Aries. She was mostly a support spirit but her defense magic was greater than her attacking power.

Sagittarius was the next spirit she chose. His skill with the bow made him a long distance fighter who mainly supported her and protected her. Virgo while being a capable fighter also had one of the highest defensive capabilities of all her spirits and finally she chose Scorpio as his abilities were about the same as Sagittarius although his offensive capabilities were higher.

Then she got to work on trying to figure the rest of the spell. For the first time since Capricorn told her that something like this was possible she finally had an idea of what she needed to do. It was a good feeling knowing that she was exploring parts of her magic that no mage had ever been able to reach.

It also made her that much closer to their goal. She was getting there, one step at a time, she was determined that she would be able to take on Erza one day and it had to be soon. The war would come and this time she was determined that she would be able to win.

While she was busy working on herself Natsu and Happy managed to complete their job two days early. Natsu had been given a silver gate key as part of the reward. He knew that Lucy would be over joyed with her present and the opportunity to make a new friend but at the same time he enjoyed spending time with Happy.

It felt like ages since the two of them had hung out without anyone around. Thinking back to the amount of time that he had been spending with Lucy he realized that it had been nearly three months since they had travelled to the past and already so many things were different.

Happy seemed at peace floating next to him pointing out some of the things that he found interesting and the two of them mostly chatted aimlessly. It was nice, not to be worrying about anything and just enjoying the day with his friend even though he knew that he hadn't been a very good friend to Happy recently.

Natsu hoped that Mystogan and Siegrain had already left the guild with Laxus. They did say that they would be gone in about four days and that time was up. He also wondered how much longer Mira and Erza would stay away. He gave it another month tops which also meant that they would all be back soon and then he would be watched even more closely. He resisted the urge to sigh at that thought. He really wished that everyone would just disappear for a little while longer.

He knew that he was different and that he was acting differently. When everyone came back they would all be on his head, nagging him about the changes and he didn't want that. He knew things and remembered things that they didn't have he did change a lot. He had grown during the time that he met Lucy and formed his team and the problem was that they didn't know that and he didn't know how to explain his changes to them.

Natsu knew that gramps was already worried about his change. Master Makarov was watching him closely ever since he had come back. Natsu didn't mean to act different but he couldn't even remember how he was supposed to be acting.

He knew things that everyone else didn't and he had an idea of what the future could hold. Natsu just wasn't the person that he had been at eighteen years old and now that the change hadn't been gradual he had people looking at him funny.

When Erza and Mira got back things would get more difficult especially if he wanted to hide Lucy. They could just introduce her to the guild and let her join but they didn't want to do that just yet. Lucy wanted to work on her magic and her training.

They both spent nearly ten to twelve hours a day training either together or separately. Once she joined the guild their team would be around constantly. They wouldn't have the same time that they had now and then there was the fact that he had technically gotten married and he hadn't told anyone in the guild.

Natsu knew that it would come out eventually but he couldn't help but want to be a little selfish. He wanted to keep things the way they are now, just Lucy, Happy and him as a family. Natsu guessed that Lucy would probably want to train for maybe nine more months. Then she would be done with her training and want to exercise her new powers and go on jobs. That would be the perfect time to join the guild.

That would also give them technically a year as a married couple. It would be enough time for them to be together and move out of their honeymoon phase. It would also be enough time for him to be comfortable with the change in their relationship and make it strong. He just wanted some time away from the guild and the people there. They all wanted answers and to be there and to try and help but sometimes you don't need help. You just need some time alone.

Natsu just had to hope that Erza and Gray stayed out of his business until he was ready. He also hoped that when they came back he would still have enough time to spend with Lucy. He bit his lip because he knew that they wouldn't leave him be, they cared too much. Erza especially wouldn't buy any of his excuses. Since everyone got to go on a training trip, he thought that maybe he and Lucy should do the same thing and then he thought back to Wendy.

She was currently nine years old. A young girl with extraordinary powers and he could see that she looked up to both of them. If he waited for Erza and Mira to return before taking his own trip with Lucy, Wendy and Happy then he could buy more time and probably get a lot more done.

Wendy needed training and even though he had given her the basics of their offensive abilities she needed more practice. She needed someone to help her train so that she didn't hurt herself. At the age that she was, if for any reason she pushed herself too far she could get hurt or damage her magic container and that would open up a whole new set of problems.

His powers on the other hand were extremely destructive and he needed to train them. An island somewhere would be the perfect place to train Wendy and for himself. A place where no one would get hurt or worry about the destruction. There were plenty of deserted islands crawling with monsters that they could test their strength against.

Lucy could also teach Wendy how to open her second origin. Natsu and Lucy still had their second origin open from the Grand Magic Games when Ultear opened it for them. All she did was technically speed up the process for opening the container. While exercising your magic container it was possible to slowly open the second container in the body. Lucy meditated and exercised both containers while she trained and she taught him how to do it as well.

If he could convince Wendy to come with them on their training trip then Lucy could teach her how to do that. He knew that leaving her guild would be extremely hard but at the same time he knew that if he left her there all alone she would only be hurt in the long run when Nirvana was finally destroyed. He didn't want her to stay there, not knowing about the world or how powerful she could be.

Wendy didn't grow in Caitshelter. She didn't go on jobs she didn't train or meet new people. She just hid away waiting for Mystogan. He wanted her to live a better life. One that was less lonely than the one she currently had so taking her away for a little while would probably sit better with her than telling her to leave her guild and join his. Wendy would feel more comfortable if he offered to bring her back after some training and maybe, just maybe she would choose to come with them earlier.

Lucy wrote letters to Wendy every couple of days, letting her know how they were doing and answering any questions that she had or giving her advice. They weren't strangers to her anymore so she wasn't afraid of them however he didn't know how Carla would take it. He would essentially asking them to leave their guild and go off to a place where there are no other people and trust that he won't get them killed. Carla was very protective of Wendy but she would also follow her anywhere that she went so he assumed that she would moan and groan for a little while before getting over it.

As for Lucy, Natsu had the feeling that she was going to be getting restless soon. There was only so much that one could do on their own or with a partner if they wanted to train their magic. There would come a time when you would want to see how much you have improved and beating up some magical creatures on an island would probably be the best way to do something like that. Lucy could see how far she has come fighting against someone that isn't him and gain some experience. The best way to learn is through experience.

Natsu grinned to himself. He was happy that he managed to come up with a solution to his problems. He knew that Lucy would be excited to go on this journey to see how far she had come. He could also admit that he really wanted to see how she did all on her own. Lucy hated the fact that she needed to be saved all the time and now she was someone who could protect her friends and save them instead of having it the other way around.

"Hey Happy how would you like to go exploring?" he asked and the blue cat simply saluted him with an 'Aye sir'. He knew that it would be the only way to ensure he got some peace would be to go away for a little while. When they returned Lucy would make friends again and they wouldn't have as much time together but she wouldn't be lonely besides he couldn't be selfish forever.

Natsu knew that once they returned things wouldn't be the same anymore. He wouldn't be the only person in her life anymore and that would be fine because they were still married. He would be her priority besides he once brought her to Fairy Tail and gave her a family because she had been lonely and he promised her that she would never be alone ever again.

Lucy missed Erza, Cana, Mira and even Juvia and when they returned it wouldn't be much longer before the rest of their family would find their way to her. Lucy had been named the 'Light of the Fairies' not only because she embodied their values but because she soothed their demons. Everyone had been drawn to her in some way. When they returned it would happen again and he knew it so for now he was going to be selfish. He was going to hide away with his wife until they were ready to face the rest of the world.


	10. Chapter 10

AN: This chapter is going to have a lot of time skips, this is basically Lucy and Natsu training for the rest of the year and everyone else returning to the guild and getting a glimpse of what they're capable of after their training and the return.

Chapter ten

Natsu and Lucy had a bet on how long it would take for Mira and Erza to return to the guild. Natsu said another two weeks while Lucy bet another month would pass. Natsu grumbled about her always being right when Erza and Gray returned on the first. A month after his mission with Happy by then they had been in the past for four months and a week later Mira was back as well.

They had placed the bet while they were trying to figure out when they would have to leave for the island. When Natsu returned from his mission with the silver key, Lucy hugged and kissed him in excitement. He had brought her the key to the hunting dogs, Canes Venatici. They were expert trackers and protector spirits. They were large, black and silver, winged wolves and Lucy absolutely adored them. Natsu made a mental note to find her more gate keys if her reaction would always be like that and these spirits weren't perverts so that was a plus.

While Natsu had been away Lucy had summoned Aquarius. While she had trained with her spirits and using her star dresses she never found in herself to take that step. Lucy had not summoned Aquarius not since she had found herself in the past. She would often spend time running her finger over the unbroken key unable to bring herself to actually summon the fierce spirit.

Lucy for a long time had seen Aquarius as a link to her mother and as her big sister. The spirit was always angry and whenever summoned. She rarely did as she was asked often abandoning her and Lucy never really brought herself to broach the subject of her treatment by the spirit.

In a way, Lucy knew that Aquarius didn't like her. Aquarius didn't think she was as good as her mother and she never wanted to hear the confirmation from the spirit. Then everything changed because she sacrificed her key. It was time for Lucy to put on the big girl pants and finally do what she should have done a long time ago.

"You finally summoned me." Said Aquarius looking around and finding that Lucy had summoned her from a pond in the woods.

Lucy nodded, "I didn't know what to say."

Aquarius scoffed, "You never do. You have no grace unlike your mother."

"My mother is long gone Aquarius and you need to deal with it. She was your friend and you loved her but here's a little newsflash I loved her too and I needed her more than you ever would."

The spirit didn't say anything and Lucy for the first time got angry at her, "Let her go Aquarius, because she would be ashamed of the way you are treating her daughter."

Aquarius raised an eyebrow at her, "You think you can tell me what to do?"

Lucy folded her arms, "I'm giving you a choice either you work with me or I can give your key away. I won't have you and your mood swings affecting my battles. You can either do as I ask when summoned and we work as a team or I give you to someone that you will listen too. I won't ask you to like me but I am telling you that you will respect the fact that I am your key holder. What do you want Aquarius?"

The spirit smiled at the girl. It had been a long time since she smiled in this world, and said "I'll stay with you. Terms of our contract don't change. You finally grew a spine kid I can respect that."

Lucy smiled too knowing that she had done something right. She managed to earn the spirits approval and she knew that while Aquarius would never be all soft and cuddly she would at least work with her now and that was enough for her.

Erza and Mira immediately got into a fight when they both returned and Natsu resisted the urge to dance. At least he won the bet on how quickly they would get into a fight. After a bloody, dangerous battle that would have probably killed regular mages Erza had come out on top by a hairs breath. This made it the fourth time that they had fought seriously and the score was currently tied between them.

Mira had already decided on another match to which the master replied that the rule was that if they fight in the training room then they couldn't challenge the same person within for six months afterwards. It was mostly to ensure that they didn't break the rune barrier and he was trying to keep the amount of times they nearly killed each other down.

Mira was different when she returned. She was calmer, less angry but at the same time she was still dangerous. She was wearing a pair of tight skinny jeans and boots with her normal purple crop top. She wore her hair down with tiny braids woven together and loose curls. She smiled more and was a little kinder but she also punched people if they annoyed her. It was actually a good balance of 'The Demon' and normal Mira that only her siblings got to see.

Natsu actually liked the new Mirajane. For a long time it was a little jarring for people to see Mira as a helpless little girl and after Lisanna that was what she essentially became. When she was able to transform again she still hid all her power and underneath a mask. This Mira wasn't afraid. She was powerful but kind at the same time without hiding any part of herself away.

Lisanna and Elfman had several new souls that they could use as well as being able to do multiple takeovers. It was an advanced technique for mages who used that magic since turning from one soul to another without messing up took a lot of magic and concentration. It put them on a very different level than they had been on when they left. Master had been proud at how much dedication they had put into their training.

Lisanna immediately came up to Natsu when they returned and asked if they could go on a job together. They often worked together when she wasn't going on S-class requests with her sister. She was confused when Natsu turned her down and disappeared from the guild a little later.

"What's with him and where is Happy?" asked Mira not liking how sad her sister looked.

She knew that Lisanna had a crush on Natsu. Everyone knew that she liked him even though they weren't really sure how much of it was the fact that they were best friends or just teasing. The two of them did spend a lot of time together and they were friends but no one was really sure if they would be a couple.

Mira thought that Lisanna just wanted to be with him because it was easy. They knew each other well and spent all their time together. If they started dating no one would really bat an eye because everyone just kind of expected that they would end up together. Lisanna was comfortable with Natsu and it wouldn't be such a big leap if they ended up in a romantic relationship but Natsu seemed off.

Macao simply shrugged, "Happy hasn't been to the guild a lot but he comes in with Natsu sometimes. As for Natsu he hasn't been spending a lot of time in the guild. He said he was training but he seems distant almost like he's lost in his own head a lot."

Lisanna didn't know what to make of it but she shook her head and smiled. He was Natsu, everything would be fine. She would just try again later or maybe ask him on a date. They weren't kids anymore and she did think that they would make a good couple. They could give it a try and if it didn't work out which she highly doubted then they would always be friends.

Erza on the other hand was discussing how far she had come in her training. Her requipping was nearly instantaneous and she was able to access different parts of her armors as needed. In the other time line that was only something that she had learned to do sometime during the Grand Magic Games when she wore her Flame Empress Armor but used the weapon from her Sea Empress set. Her speed had also basically tripled in the time that they were away.

Gray's ice magic had always been fast but it had taken him a few moments, now his molding was almost as fast as Erza's requipping. He also managed to come up with more moves. A lot of his molding was done using his imagination. Gray did however have a few signature moves. Now he had a whole bunch of new moves as well as a faster reaction time.

Their magic levels had all increased in their time away. All in all it was everything that Natsu had hoped it would be when they first left for their training camps. They needed to be the monsters that monsters feared and they had come a long way.

In the four months that they had gone away they had caught up to the level that they had been on two years into the future. However Natsu knew that it would be extremely hard to get them to keep training. No one would want to continuously train all the time not without a reason. The only reason he and Lucy were so obsessed with getting stronger was because they knew what was coming.

Natsu didn't bother fighting Gray when they returned. He went on a couple of jobs while they all returned making it seem like he was really busy so that they wouldn't bother him too much. It also helped to keep Lisanna away from him and not tagging along all the time.

He had already spoken to Lucy who agreed to go to one of the many islands with Wendy to practice her magic ensuring that no one learned of her and their relationship before they were ready to have that conversation.

It took Erza about two weeks to get fed up with his new behavior and come looking for him and by then Natsu was gone. He left a note that he and Happy were going to train and left with Lucy. He sent a note to the master as well letting him know that he was leaving for a while and then they all just disappeared quietly before anyone could track them down.

He didn't want anyone going to his house only to find it rebuilt and redecorated. It was obvious a woman lived there but people rarely went to his home. Sending the note to the guild ensured that no one would go looking for him. By the time Erza started asking questions, Master Makarov already had answers for her.

Wendy had already asked her master for permission to go learn more about her magic and he had gladly given it to her. Natsu and Lucy went to pick her and Carla up. Happy immediately fell in love with her and she immediately stuck her nose in the air and ignored him.

Lucy giggled remembering that his pursuit of her heart had not failed. Carla had eventually come to care for him even if she hadn't admitted it so Lucy left them alone. They would figure things out on their own. It was kind of funny to see Happy and Carla together again especially when she knew that eventually Happy would find a way to win her heart even though he was currently sulking as the white cat ignored him. She wondered if this was how Mira felt when she was shipping people together.

Jude told them that he had bought an uninhabited island that was infested with some beasts and he wanted them to clear them off. He was going to turn it into a resort and if they got rid of the beasts then he was going to give them a cut of the profits.

Lucy didn't really want him to do that but he replied that it was payment for her work so she should just let it go. Lucy gave up. Her father was determined to spoil her even if she wasn't going to the perfect heiress she was still his princess.

Lucy was admittedly proud of her father and how far he had come in the recent months. They wrote to each other weekly and he always replied to her messages. She always knew that he was a good man at heart. He hid it under layers of ice but he had eventually proven that he did care about her and her happiness. She was proud of the fact that they had a real relationship this time around and that she managed to make a truce with Aquarius. She was able to pull the people that she loved the most as close as possible now all she needed to do was join the guild and find her friends again.

Three months after Natsu and Happy left the guild on their training mission, Laxus finally returned to the guild and he was smiling. The master nearly had a heart attack but it seemed like all the rage and hurt and confusion that Laxus had been carrying around for so many years had finally settled.

"What happened to you?" he asked his grandson in private.

Laxus laughed, "Siegrain beat my ass for an entire month every time I said something about power and strength and being better. Then Mystogan would ask where I got that idea from and for the first time, I actually wondered the same thing. Ivan said and did a lot of things but I couldn't let him control me even when he wasn't around. His way of thinking I've seen where it leads and that place scares me. I finally understand why you do what you do."

Mystogan merely told the master when he asked him what happened was, "We encountered a dream mage. He was the reason the mission was an S-class. He trapped us in our lives only where we saw what would happen if we made the bad choices. I saw what could have possibly happened if I chose to stay in Edolas where I would never truly be happy. Siegrain saw all the bad things he did and would continue to do if he was still possessed and Laxus saw where he would eventually end up if carried on down the path laid out in front of him by Ivan. It rattled him."

On the bright side, Laxus really did learn a thing or two from Siegrain. He was even more of a monster than he was before he went on that job which meant that they were all progressing well. When they returned, Siegrain went to Erza and explained everything that happened. Then he gave her some time to process and two days later their reunion was a happy one where she forgave him and he told her what happen to the rest of their friends.

Erza hoped that they would come find her one day and he assured her that they knew where to find her when they were ready. Afterwards he was introduced to the guild as Siegrain and that he was Mystogan's twin brother and that was the reason why he hid his face. The guild partied and got to know their new members even Cana and Gildarts showed up meanwhile Natsu and Happy fell off the face of the earth.

Natsu, Lucy and Wendy were on the island for eight months. Wendy would meditate with Lucy in the morning while Natsu destroyed parts of the island while he trained. Then they would break for lunch and Natsu would take over her training showing her more dragon slayer magic.

He taught her how to control her dragon senses and she would spar with him for hours while Lucy worked on her magic or fought some of the beasts. She always fought within hearing range of both dragon slayers just in case.

One day nearing the sixth month they spent on the island they got separated. They fought off some of the more dangerous beasts on the island and Wendy had been at the limit of her magic power shouted for 'mama' and Lucy heard her.

Lucy's heart leapt into her throat and she donned her Sagittarius star dress and powered her arrow using Loke's Regulus power. The amount of power from the arrow with the strength of two zodiacs blew a hole through the creatures head which was followed by Lucy's muttering of, "Don't touch my daughter."

The conversation following that incident had poor Wendy blushing ten different shades of red. The girl was so young she didn't remember her birth parents. Wendy knew that her dragon had loved her very much but she had never referred to Grandeeney as her mother. She had been her teacher and mentor and in many ways her parent but she had been so young when she left.

Lucy was the only woman who took an interest in her. Lucy worried not only about her magic but her health, happiness and interests. She was the closest thing that she had to a mother even though technically Lucy was only eight years older than her. She was embarrassed to make a claim like that without asking for permission.

Natsu was also in a father type of role since he was taking care of her. He was teaching her and protecting her even though he was only ten years older than her. It was weird to see them as her parents but she couldn't help but wish that they were her parents. When she lived here on the island it was like having a family something that the young girl always craved.

Natsu didn't mind. Wendy had always looked up to him and taking care of her like this had only felt right. They didn't mind if she referred to them as her parents and they didn't care about what people would say.

People said stupid things about Fairy Tail all the time but Wendy also didn't want to disappoint her master. She couldn't just abandon the guild that had been her home for so long. When she asked if she could go with Natsu and Lucy he simply gave her his blessing.

"This is a small guild Wendy with no children and we don't get many visitors. I hoped that you would go with them the first time, when the man with the blue hair came back looking for you but you were not ready yet. There is a whole world out there my child, you should be exploring it."

Lucy went and visited her father as well and then introduced him to Wendy. He had been happy to see that they already expanded their family and Wendy was such a sweet child. It was nearly impossible not to like her. They spent three days with him before finally going back to Magnolia.

When they returned Mystogan and Siegrain were waiting for them. They all caught up on everything that they had missed out in the guild and Wendy decorated her room that she would share with Carla while everyone at the guild calmed down with the news that Natsu had returned.

He hadn't remembered to send word that he hadn't died and everyone had been very worried since he disappeared. Mystogan and Wendy spent some time together. He did see her as his little sister which was weird for him since she called referred to Lucy and Natsu as her parents.

Natsu was spending time at the guild trying to survive the wrath of the Titania while Lucy and Wendy had just finished shopping for new clothes for all of them. Wendy had grown in the time on the island and she had become more toned as well.

They needed new clothes and some stuff for Wendy's new room. Once they were done with that they both agreed that it was time that Lucy and Wendy joined the guild. They decided to go tomorrow because Natsu was dragged by Erza for a job. He would be back later today and then tomorrow they would go to the guild and face the music.

The night before Natsu had taken her to their old training area where he set up a table and two chairs. He severed her dinner and then they slow danced under the stars. It was beautiful and unexpected and she didn't know what to say when Natsu brought her here. He grinned at her and reminded her that Mystogan was taking care of Wendy for the night and even though she didn't need a babysitter.

"Why did you do this?" she asked him and Natsu merely buried his head in her neck and breathed in her scent.

"Things are going to get crazy, real soon. I just wanted a romantic evening with my wife before everyone steals you away."

Lucy blushed as she peppered his face with kisses, "As crazy as life gets, as long as I have you by my side we'll make it through."

Natsu kissed her underneath the stars with enough fire that he would be branded into her very soul. Lucy moaned as he sucked on the flesh of her neck giving her a nice big hickey that would mark her as his and then gave her his famous fanged grin as she scolded him for leaving it in such an obvious place.

Lucy was wearing shorts and a sports bra while she meditated or tried to mediate as her thoughts kept going back to last night in the woods with her husband. She finally gave up when she sensed someone's presence in the woods.

They were a little farther out than usual. To be very honest Lucy had no idea where they were since Wendy was still trying to get a hold of all her senses and was busy hunting Carla through scent and sound.

The little blue haired girl had just taken off in multiple directions while Lucy ran after her testing her speed. They had wandered far away from their original training place and she was sure that she was going to have to get a look above the trees to figure out which way was home.

It was a good exercise. One she and Natsu both did often on the island. These woods were also a new place with different scents so that it added to the difficulty. Lucy didn't actually know how close to the guild she had gotten until Mystogan came upon her in the woods. He had just left the guild barely five minutes ago and they were extremely close to the guild.

He was going to tell her how close she was but she attacked him with her staff. Mystogan grinned at the fierce expression on her face even though her eyes were still warm. This was probably payback for attacking her when she tried to get his attention the first time they met.

He was shocked to see that she had gotten better, way better. He was actually going as fast as he could to keep up with her attacks but he smirked when he noticed that she was beginning to tire. She could match speed but not for long.

Lisanna heard the sound of sticks hitting together and narrowed her eyes wondering where it was coming from. She unconsciously got up and followed the sound. Mira and Elfman noticed her leave and went to check on her when she started to walk towards the woods.

She was using her animal soul cat. Lisanna was trying to learn partial takeovers like ears of the cat and wings for flight however it was a slow going process. The move was extremely advanced. She could change one part of her body without tapping into the full soul so far. She currently had cat ears perched on top of her head, without the claws and tail.

However her cat ears were picking up the sounds of battle. It was frustrating that she had made so little progress but she knew that this would take a lot of time. The only thing she could do was practice on her own while she tried to figure out what was going on with Natsu.

Lisanna found Mystogan. They could tell them apart because Mystogan was the one who carried the staffs on his back even though the twins dressed similar. He was in a heated battle with a blonde woman who was half dressed. The two were moving quickly and she couldn't see a guild mark so she assumed that she was an enemy.

Lisanna wasn't going to get involved. Mystogan was more than capable of handling himself and she didn't want to get in his way however the staff the woman was using changed into a whip and caught fire. Lisanna's body tensed as she watched the fight get even more dangerous.

The blonde woman swung towards Mystogan who dodged her first strike but didn't notice that the whip of fire was circling back around and about to hit him from the back.

Lisanna changed into her animal soul tiger and pounced towards the stranger hoping to knock her off balance so the whip would miss his neck. Mira saw her sister move to attack the woman who was attacking Mystogan when they heard a young voice call out, "Roar of the sky dragon."

The roar was unlike anything Mira had seen because it wasn't made of fire. It was a powerful blast of wind that sent Lisanna flying back to the guild which was only a few yards away. The crash made so much noise that Fairy Tail came charging out, guns drawn.

Mira saw red when her little sister was attacked and changed into her Satan Soul and sent out a stream of darkness towards the person who attacked.

The blue haired girl was standing at the back of blonde woman who looked over her shoulder and noticed them after the blue haired girl attacked. The blonde woman's eyes widened in shock or terror they weren't sure but she glowed gold and in a burst of light she was holding a bow. She drew her arrow back, the arrow charged with a dangerous looking light and locked eyes with Mira and declared, "Not my daughter Demon."

She let the arrow go. It moved faster than Bisca's bullets and it hit Mira in the chest, blasting her backwards and into a tree which shattered from the impact.

Elfman went running towards the blonde stranger who attacked both of his sisters. He changed into a beast soul when their audience gasped at the sight of the young blue haired girl being pulled behind the blonde woman so that she would be shielded or maybe she hid behind her probably in terror of the large angry takeover mage charging towards her mother.

Mystogan just watched it all in slow motion as the train wreck unfolded in front of them. He seriously couldn't believe that something like this was even possible or that a single misunderstanding could cause so much chaos. He didn't even know if saying something would make them stop and he knew that it probably wouldn't work. They were all running high off the adrenaline from battle and Lucy was standing her ground. Mainly because Wendy was behind her and he really needed this to stop before someone got hurt.

Elfman in his beast soul form came to an abrupt halt when a wall of flames appeared out of thin air that prevented him from moving forward. Even three feet away he could feel the heat from those flames promising to burn him alive if he took another step closer.

The master let out a sigh of relief. He was about to stop them. It was obvious that Mira was protecting her siblings but there was also the fact that the blonde stranger only took action when they threatened her so he did want to speak with her.

The wall of flames appeared just in time stopping the fight from escalating so he turned towards the familiar pink haired dragon slayer who was stalking forward with Erza and Gray trailing behind him in confusion.

Natsu ignored whatever the master was about to say and reached down and picked Elfman up by the collar and stared into his eyes before growling out, "You ever charge towards my wife or my daughter again and I'll turn you into ash idiot. You could have hurt her."

There were several gasps of shock. Someone possibly Macao had fainted into Wakaba's arms. Elfman was so shocked that he dropped his transformation. Lisanna came running towards them just in time to hear him claim the stranger as his wife. She gasped and turned to him possible to ask if it was true when the blonde woman walked through the wall of fire.

Erza was the only one who managed to ask, "How did you pass through the flames?"

Lucy smiled sheepishly at her, "As his wife his fire doesn't harm me. His magic recognizes mine and refuses to hurt me. I'm so sorry this really is my fault. I didn't know I was so close to the guild and then I was sparring with Mystogan and Lisanna didn't recognize me. She thought I was trying to hurt him. She was only trying to protect her friend. I'm really sorry for all the confusion."

Mira walked up to her, dropping her transformation and let out a gasp, "You were the girl. The one with Natsu in Clover Town. You helped him save us."

Lucy nodded, "Hai, I'm Lucy Dragneel." She held out her hand for Mira to shake and when she did she tightened her hand around hers and said, "You ever aim at my daughter again and I'll kill you."

Gray couldn't help but stammer out, "Daughter?"

He was so confused. Everyone knew that Natsu was hopeless with girls so how the hell did he get married and why the hell did he get married. He couldn't get the words of 'wife' and 'daughter' to stop ringing in his ears because this was some sort of alternate reality. This couldn't be real.

Lucy nodded to Gray and then hit Natsu on the back of his head, "Let him go. He was only trying to protect his family now get rid of the flames so they can meet Wendy."

Natsu dropped Elfman and the wall of flames disappeared leaving them staring at a blue haired young girl, "This is Wendy our adopted daughter. She's nine years old and she is the sky dragon slayer."

Everyone smiled at the young girl and called out their greetings before Erza cut them all of, "Natsu, when did you get married?"

Everyone turned towards him and waited for the answer, "Over a year ago. We never had a ceremony we just signed a marriage certificate."

Lucy sighed and Wendy was hiding behind Natsu, "I was going to introduce you tomorrow. Lucy decided that Wendy was ready to join the guild and she wanted to join as well."

The master walked towards the beautiful young woman and smiled gently at her, "Why did you wait so long? You are my child as well. You married one of my children after all."

Lucy blushed, "I wanted to finish learning my magic. My mother passed when I was young and she gave me her keys. I wanted to finish my exploration of the magic before I joined a guild. Natsu was training me to fight while I learned magic."

Makarov saw the gold keys that she held in her hand and he raised an eyebrow, "Stellar magic. You are a celestial spirit mage. May I know how many keys you have?" he asked as he passed her the guild stamp.

Lucy marked her hand in pink and then marked Wendy's shoulder in blue and they both returned the stamp to him. They had returned to the guild by then and they settled on to the bar. Natsu sat down and Wendy perched onto his lap whispering into his ear.

Lucy smiled at him, "Nineteen, I hold all the zodiac keys master."

There were several gasps of shock as many knew how rare the gate keys were when she requipped her keys into her hands showing them 13 golden keys.

Erza couldn't help but ask, "I thought that there were only 12 zodiac gates."

Lucy smiled, "The thirteenth gate is the rarest key there is and one of the most powerful. Some say it holds the darkness of the spirit world others say it was simply forgotten."

Natsu turned to Lucy, "Nineteen keys? I thought I gave it to you for your birthday."

Lucy narrowed her eyes at him, "You cooked dinner for my birthday without burning anything. Wendy had to help."

Natsu looked even more confused, "Our anniversary?"

Lucy rolled her eyes, "You got me another book on requip magic because I couldn't figure out how to requip my keys. That really expensive book that you hated because it took me so long to read and I unintentionally ignored you to read it."

Natsu dug into his pocket and pulled out a silver key, "I got this as part of a reward for a job. I thought you would like it but I don't know which one it is but I could have sworn I gave it to you."

Lucy studied the key for a moment and then squealed and kissed him squarely on the mouth, "It's the key to the Leo Minor. You found Loke's little brother. I love you Natsu."

"I love you too Luce." He replied and Wendy hid her blushing face in her hands.

Some people laughed at Wendy's reaction, some laughed at the dopey grin on Natsu's face from his kiss but many just stared at the three of them in shock not really believing what they were seeing. Natsu sighed internally. Things were going to get really crazy now that they all knew it.

Loke on the other hand deemed it a perfect time to open his gate, "Princess did I hear you say my name?"

Natsu growled at the lion haired man, "She's mine, piss off Loke."

The man simply smiled, "She is my master. I shall be by her side forever."

Natsu growled louder, "Keep your paws off."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "I did say your name Loke. Natsu got me the key to Leo Minor."

Loke narrowed his eyes at the key and swiped it from her hand, "There is no spirit here Lucy."

Everyone went silent as they stared at the exchange. It seemed really important and serious, "Cub faded Lucy. He was kept out in this world too long. He disappeared."

Lucy stared at her spirit in horror as Loke clutched the key in his hand, "May I keep his key?" he asked her and Lucy mutely nodded her head as she disappeared.

"Natsu can we go home?" she asked as the pink haired man gathered her into his arms and left the guild silently.


	11. Chapter 11

AN: I feel like the only reason Lisanna let go of Natsu was because in Edolas he was so different from the person she had known. Edo-Natsu already had the Edo-Lucy. If Lisanna had remained in Fairy Tail then she could have possibly fallen in love with him so right now Lisanna isn't going to be very happy with Natsu and Lucy. She isn't a bitch, I won't bash her because that isn't fair but she isn't going to be happy seeing Natsu with Lucy.

Also a special Thank You to Erika Quinn for being my 100th reviewer. I always answer questions if my readers leave them so please keep reviewing.

Chapter eleven

The next morning everyone more or less stumbled into the guild. None of them were sure whether or not they all had the same dream of Natsu being married to a blonde haired bombshell. They all more or less sat in silence in the guild waiting for the pink haired Dragon Slayer to make an appearance with most of them wondering if his wife and daughter would be with him as well.

When Natsu threw open the doors Lisanna immediately zeroed in on him. He seemed more or less the same expect for the fact that he wasn't wearing those gloves anymore. Her eyes widened at the sight of a gold wedding band sitting on his left hand finger.

"You really are married. All that really happened and it wasn't some sort of dream?" she questioned him.

As much as she tried for it to come off as humorous, many of the girls in Fairy Tail winced at the bitterness in her voice. Natsu probably hadn't picked up on it because he was lost in thought but some of the guys gave her a weird look as well. Lisanna hadn't been able to hide it from anyone but Natsu.

Cana put down her drink and shared a look with Levy. The two girls seemed to be on the same page even though others hadn't caught on.

"Whose side are we supposed to take here?" asked Evergreen and Cana shook her head at them. Levy resisted the urge to face palm but she couldn't help but feel bad for Lisanna. This was not something that any of them were expecting.

Once Natsu had entered the guild, most of the men had surrounded him and began asking questions about him and Lucy. The general stuff on how they met and when they got married. The women more or less converged on Lisanna while keeping an ear out on the conversation.

"Lucy Dragneel, we may not know anything about her but we do know that she is Natsu's wife and a member of Fairy Tail. It doesn't matter if none of us know anything about her or that we knew Lisanna longer. We cannot pick sides in this or turn this into some sort of cat fight. The truth is that there aren't any sides to pick. This isn't fight." Replied Cana.

Bisca couldn't help but say, "But everyone expected Natsu to end up with Lisanna."

Levy raised an eyebrow at her, "Did anyone ever ask Natsu what he wanted? It was funny when we were kids to imagine them as a couple. We would pair up everyone with who we thought they would end up with and it was fun. However did anyone ever ask Natsu what he wanted because married someone who isn't Lisanna."

Levy waited a moment for all of them to realize that they didn't really have the power to predict who ends up with whom. The lives of their nakama were not up to a vote. They didn't get to choose who someone falls in love with. Levy continued remembering the way Natsu acted yesterday.

"Natsu pulls her into his arms and he hugs her all the time or kisses her and gives her presents just because he wants to make Lucy happy. It isn't his fault Lisanna didn't tell him how she felt sooner. Technically he never promised her anything so he didn't do anything wrong. Just because he ended up with someone we don't know isn't his fault. He went out and found someone he loved. If Lisanna didn't want to lose him she should have tried making him hers first."

Cana nodded her head to Levy, "Natsu already made his choice. If we try to make Lucy feel uncomfortable for being with him Natsu would never forgive us. This isn't a battle for his heart. Lucy already won."

Bisca looked at her partner and bit her lip. Lisanna and Natsu's relationship shared a lot of similarities to hers and Alzack's. They went on jobs together and spent most of their time outside of the guild together. However they didn't make any promises to each other. They hadn't made any plans for the future and she never thought that the day would come when he wouldn't be there for her.

This whole situation just showed her that if she didn't say something to him soon then she could lose him as well. Lisanna never said anything to Natsu not wanting to ruin their friendship or because they were younger but that didn't mean that she couldn't learn from her. Alzack could find someone else to love if she didn't make it clear that she loved him.

Bisca decided to think about her relationship later. For now she needed to be listening to what the other girls were planning. Erza was agreeing with Levy and so were most of the others. No one wanted Lisanna to get hurt but sometimes when you like someone they don't like you back and that isn't anyone's fault. It's the way things worked out sometimes. Most of the time when you have a crush on someone its your heart that gets crushed.

Lisanna was listening to the girls and she couldn't help but want to cry. Mira put an arm around her shoulder, "Natsu was always a very blunt and honest person. You had to spell out what you wanted from him and it looks like you were too late. He didn't get the hint and chose someone else. You're a great girl Lisanna. One day you'll find someone who treats you like the amazing person that you are but that person isn't going to be Natsu."

Natsu on the other hand went to the guild simply because he didn't want to listen to Lucy cry over something that he couldn't fix. She loved her spirits so much and knowing that the spirit was gone hurt her. The fact that it was someone she considered to be her friend was grieving as well was killing her. Loke was one of her most trusted and treasured spirits and it was his little brother that had been killed by a mage. A mage who was supposed to protect their spirits.

He hated not being able to help but he knew if he could answer most of the guilds questions it would help in some way. He could take some of the heat off her so that she could get some peace. He was here to answer whatever questions they wanted him to answer. As long as it wasn't too personal, he knocked out Bickslow when he asked what her three sizes were.

Loke had gone into the spirit world taking the key of his little brother with him. He explained that the key should have been destroyed. However silver spirits have more than one key which was the reason that this one somehow managed to survive. He was keeping it as a reminder of his brother.

Natsu explained why Lucy wasn't around and that it would be a couple of days before she came back to the guild. Then he sat at the bar and asked Mira for lunch. He felt crappy since he couldn't fix this for Lucy but as she already explained there was no bringing back lost spirits. Many of the guild members respected Lucy for caring so much about her spirits.

Laxus returned from a mission three days after Natsu was interrogated by the guild and missed the news. When he went to the guild looking for the twins from hell as he liked to call them Macro told him that Mystogan and Siegrain were with Natsu and his wife.

Laxus laughed for a full five minutes before realizing that they were serious. Somehow the pink haired dragon slayer had gotten married a year ago without anyone even knowing. He was also told that they adopted a kid. He didn't really believe that either so that was the reason why he was walking in the general direction of where Natsu lived. He needed to see the person crazy enough to marry Natsu.

Erza, Gray, Mira and Lisanna were at Natsu's home as well. It had been about four days since they found out that he had gotten married to someone none of them knew so they came to visit the family. Erza and Gray had come because they were technically his closest friends in the guild even if Gray refused to admit it. Mira had tagged along when Lisanna decided to go and meet Natsu's wife as well.

Mira was worried that Lisanna might say something that would upset Lucy or Natsu. It was also possible that she could reveal her feelings without meaning too. She could also get upset since she was really trying to accept Natsu's decision but she was struggling.

Lisanna had somehow convinced herself that if she could see for herself how loved and happy Natsu was with Lucy then she would be able to find it in herself to be happy for him. She wanted to try and befriend Lucy. However both sisters knew that would take some time before she was comfortable enough for that but she wanted to try. She didn't want to turn into a bitter bitch.

Lucy sighed when she realized that they were never going to get a moment of peace. Siegrain and Mystogan had arrived that morning. They wanted to learn more about the future war that was coming and the Balam Alliance. Fairy Tail had come up against all members of that alliance and they had won. However none of the battles had been easy and they wanted as much information as they could get.

The group had already made many changes to the timeline. They were trying to see how things would change or how some events could possibly come into play. However before they could get very fair into planning someone knocked on the door and Lucy had a house full of guests.

Lucy sighed. Some things never changed so they stopped all future talk. Lucy also decided to try and stop being so depressed over Cub. She needed to be able to move onwards. There was nothing she could do for herself or for Loke but she could take the first steps to being part of her family once again.

Natsu called Wendy to spar with him in the training area that he created for them. Gray watched in shock as the tiny girl roared with enough power to counteract the roar the Natsu sent towards her. Then the little girl attacked him. A flurry of kick and punches and he just stood there and took it, blocking punches and kicks throwing her up into the air and watching as she dived towards him trying to get him to move. To push him backwards even an inch as she used the air currents to fly and the momentum from him throwing her backwards to push herself forward with even more force.

The group watched in awe as Natsu of all people in the world demonstrated to her how to combine her attacks. He went slowly, showing her each precise movement and where to aim before taking his place again and waiting for to attack. They watched in awe as the little blue haired girl listened attentively and then moved. She moved slowly at first getting used to bending and moving her body in certain ways. Once she had gotten used to the movements, she went after him with even more force, trying once more to move him.

Lucy came out with a tray of lemonade and Siegrain picked up the glass first and then he grinned at her, "Would you like another spar Luce?"

Erza watched their interaction carefully as Lucy giggled at him and shook her head, "I still have the bruises from the last time I attempted to take you on."

Wendy suddenly went flying backward. Lucy flicked her whip catching the blue haired young girl around her ankle with her whip ensuring she didn't crash into the trees. Wendy realizing that she wasn't about to hit a tree gathered the wind to herself ensuring that when her mama removed her whip she wouldn't fall. Lucy snapped her wrist and her whip hit Natsu on his head as he met his wife's eyes in terror, holding his hands up defensively.

"What are you thinking baka? Be more careful, she doesn't need broken bones." She scolded him as she helped Wendy to her feet. Natsu immediately gave her the kicked puppy look and Lucy responded by kissing his cheek as an apology for being so harsh.

Laxus joined Mystogan and stared at Lucy, "How the hell did he get a girl that looks like that?"

Gray laughed out loud at the question and Erza raised an eyebrow in question to what they were whispering about. Lucy turned towards the people gathered outside their home, "Whose staying for lunch?" she called out and Laxus whistled, "She cooks too."

Siegrain nodded, "Her food is delicious."

Erza decided that I would be best for her sanity to ignore the boys and turned towards Natsu. He was so different now. Nothing like the boy she had known since her childhood. He seemed to have grown up overnight. He trained his daughter well.

Apparently he taught Lucy how to fight as well but it was more than that. His eyes were softer. He wasn't in a hurry to rush out and go on an adventure anymore. He seemed at peace simply by being next to her. Natsu looked like a family man now. All grown up and settled and she wondered when things had changed so fast.

"Hey Natsu, we haven't sparred yet. How about it?" she called out and he gave her his famous fanged grin and for a moment it seemed like nothing had changed.

"How about a tag team match? You and Gray vs. Lucy and I." replied Natsu.

Mira and Lisanna immediately grinned even Laxus couldn't help but be amused and a little curious. He was told that Lucy was a stellar mage and he had to admit he had never seen one of those fight. He had heard of Karen from Blue Pegasus but he had never actually worked with her. As far as he knew he never saw her summon any spirits.

In fact, he knew that the magic was the holder type anything else was a mystery to him. He also really wanted to see the couple fight together. Laxus grimaced he never thought he would see the day Natsu as part of a couple and not just any couple but he was married. First one of their generation to get married and Gramps was probably going to be asking him to get married soon and make babies.

Erza smiled at him and nodded her head because why not. It would be a good bonding experience for all of them. None of them knew anything about Lucy and Fairy Tail had been well-known for the amount of trouble they caused.

Everyone wanted to see what the wife of 'The Salamander' would be capable of and considering how he trained Wendy to fight. She could be a very skilled and then there was the fact that next to no one knew anything about her magic and how that worked.

They also really just wanted a way to get to know the girl. She was obviously very important to Natsu and she was a new member of the guild. Fairy Tail was well-known for the fact that they were family. When one was angry they were all angry. When one cried they all cried and when was happy they were all happy. Natsu seemed to orbit around his wife like she was the sun and they wanted to know her. Someone who could so obviously loved Natsu so much and changed him into a fully functional adult had to be someone incredible.

Erza and Gray agreed to the fight and they decided to do it tomorrow. Lucy had been practicing her magic and her power was at a low. Natsu had been training Wendy all day. They all wanted to be in top form when they fought. Their guests went back to the guild to let everyone know about the fight tomorrow. Lucy rolled her eyes and smiled to herself as she watched them walk away.

Erza seemed more at peace with herself. It was similar to how she had been when they were done with the Tower. She seemed happy knowing that Siegrain wasn't an insane psychopath anymore and they seemed to have something happening there. There was a slight attraction but she didn't want to interfere in their relationship. If its meant to be then they would find a way to be together.

Mira seemed happier. She had always been kind and friendly in the other time line but she also carried within her a deep sadness. It wasn't something that went away even after her sister returned. She was afraid to be herself. The 'Demon Mirajane' had been only her negative emotions. Her fierceness that had shown but afterwards she hid her darkness away. This Mira seemed like a balance of both sides of herself without hiding any part of herself. Lucy was happy for her, she finally seemed at peace.

Natsu wrapped his arms her and cuddled her into his chest. She had her family back and even though they hadn't given her a chance to plot with Mystogan and Siegrain. Lucy was finally part of the guild again and she was able to rebuild her relationships with everyone. She was excited to do this but at the same time it pained her to look at the people that she knew so well and realize that they looked at her like a stranger.

"You'll all be great friends in no time." He whispered in her ear and kissed her forehead silently telling her to stop worrying so much and just relax.

Wendy held onto Natsu's hand as they walked into the guild. It was a shocking sight for several of the people in the town as they walked through the streets into the guild. Gray had to do a double take when Natsu patted the girl on her head and she ran off to make friends with Levy.

Wendy was holding Carla in her hands and introducing her to Levy. The blue haired girl blinked in shock several times when she was approached and saw Natsu smile at her and give her a thumbs up. She was touched that he trusted her to be the first person in the guild that his daughter met and Levy got to introduce her to everyone.

Lucy smiled softly at the sight of her best friend showing Wendy a picture in a book. Natsu wrapped his arm around her shoulders and whispered in her ear. Her laugh echoed in the guild causing several people to stop and stare at the couple in shock. It was a beautiful sight to see Natsu wrapped around someone and as she laughed he stared at her like a blind man looking at the sun for the first time. He seemed to be happy just because she was happy in that moment.

However, they weren't here for everyone to gush about how cute they were together because Erza ended the family moment. No one was used to seeing Natsu like this. He had never been so wrapped up in someone or even interested in something that wasn't food or fighting. It was going to take some getting used too even though it was a good change. None of them had ever seen him so happy.

"Are the two of you ready?" Erza called out and Lucy nodded her head.

She took off her cloak, letting them all see the outfit that her father had gifted her so long ago. She hadn't used it much since Clover town. She had it refitted when they came back to Magnolia and she got a few more in similar colors.

It was really comfortable to fight in and she was going to take this seriously. She really wanted to know how she would fair in a fight against Erza. She wanted to know how far she had come and how far she had left to go.

They went outside and the master activated the rune barrier. There was a glow of purple energy and she saw a wall of runes appear for a brief second. This would ensure that their attacks would not be able to reach the people outside the cage or destroy the surrounding area. Everyone gathered around to watch because they were curious to see this fight and since it was Fairy Tail they were already placing bets on the winner.

Wendy huffed in anger when she realized that everyone blocked her vision of the area. She also knew that her parents would kill her if she got too close. She looked around and saw that both Siegrain and Mystogan were in the front with the master. She spun around and saw a big blonde man standing with three other people near the back. They were all tall enough to see.

Mama said that Laxus was the Masters grandson. He was one of the most powerful mages that she ever saw fight. He was standing with a green haired man, a pretty brown haired woman and a man wearing some sort of helmet. They were called the Thunder God tribe. This was his team she remembered her parents talking about them. Natsu wanted her to know who was in Fairy Tail. In case something happened so she knew where she could get help.

She took a deep breath and steeled herself. Carla was with Happy somewhere. She lost sight of her when she was talking to Levy. She went over to the 6'2 man and tugged on his coat. Laxus looked down and caught sight of a little blue haired girl who was just a little taller than his knees.

"Whats wrong kid?" he asked, not wanting to make the little girl cry but he had about zero experience with kids and he didn't know what to do here. Besides it was well-known that Laxus was an asshole on a good day and he really didn't want to the reason the little girl cried.

"I can't see." She whispered and Freed chuckled.

Evergreen hid her smile in her fan. The poor girl seemed terrified and adorable all at the same time. Laxus didn't know what the hell to do then he remembered gramps and what he would do for him when he was a brat that couldn't see over the crowd and he sighed. He bent down, gestured to his back and told her, "Hop on."

Wendy blushed and with a little bit of magic she had a gust of wind give her a boost. The wind pushed her upwards so she could reach his neck and settled onto his large shoulders.

Master nearly teared up seeing his grandson letting a little girl sit on Laxus shoulders. Laxus was shocked when Lucy turned to him and beamed at him. He tried not to blush but he was very rarely warmly accepted by a woman who didn't want to sleep with him. Instead of dwelling on those thoughts he huffed and crossed his arms not looking at anyone.

"Little Miss, may I ask you a question." Asked Freed and Wendy nodded her head.

"If you can use wind magic, why not just fly yourself above the crowd?"

Wendy ducked her head, "I can't maintain the height and it takes too much magic. Papa said I'll be able to when I'm older but its hard. I can twist the air around me if I get thrown around but I can't figure out how to keep myself airborne without draining all my magic."

She looked so sad Freed immediately tried to soothe her, "I'm sure you'll learn. I'm sure its advanced magic. You also have plenty of time to figure it out, just like your papa said."

Freed found it strange to refer to Natsu as 'papa' but when Wendy beamed at him in a similar manner as her mother had previously done he couldn't help but smile back. She was such a sweet child and Laxus just sighed in relief. No one wants to make a little girl cry by being insensitive and Fairy Tail men were not known for being sensitive. They all looked up and stopped talking when the match started.

Natsu smirked. He knew that everyone would expect him to take on Erza and leave Gray to Lucy but he wanted to test the speed of his molding magic. Lucy really wanted to test her close combat moves. When the master called for them to begin. Lucy moved first flicking her whip into staff form and going after Erza with speeds that he didn't know she could reach. She really had gotten way faster.

Erza requipped her swords and met the woman head on. There was a flurry of movement as Lucy and Erza matched their weapons against each other. Gray for a moment was stunned at the fact that Natsu let his wife face Erza when he had to dodge a roar coming from him.

Gray got his head in the game quickly and hit him with a freezing arrow which Natsu jumped over and tried to hit him with a fist of flames. The two started to brawl in a very familiar manner that all Fairy Tail members were acquainted with.

Fists of flames were met with shields, ice attacked were jumped over or melted. Natsu's roar was dodged and Gray turned the floor to ice. The loss of balance didn't faze Natsu as he jumped over it and hit Gray with a wing attack that the master had never seen him use before.

Natsu and Gray were reaching speeds that the master didn't think they would be capable of reaching for a few more years as they fought. They were beating each other into the floor while Natsu somehow always maneuvered Gray away from Lucy and Erza.

Laxus grinned when he realized that Natsu was stronger than Gray magically. Gray however was keeping up because his defensive magic was strong enough to take the sheer power of Natsu's flames.

Lucy was tiring. She could match Erza but only for a minute or two. She couldn't keep up in such close quarters for long. She just didn't have the stamina so she tried to switch things up. Lucy sent a pulse of magic to her staff and broke them into escrima sticks.

Erza faltered for a moment shocked at the instant change of weapons. She had not been expecting a move like that from her. However that one moment was all she needed. Lucy round house kicked her in the stomach which sent Erza hurling backwards and it created distance between them. Lucy needed a breather and some distance to move onto the next part of her plan.

She called the Scorpio key to her hand. In a flash of golden light her spirit appeared and created a sandstorm before Lucy sent him home. She didn't want to fight with her spirits as her primary means she wanted to know how far she could go, mostly on her own.

She needed a distraction and Scorpio's sand was the perfect one which limited the visibility. Erza was confused. She knew that the flash of light meant that Lucy had called a spirit which meant that there was another opponent for her to fight. The problem was firstly the sand limited visibility and secondly no one was attacking her. She had no idea what was going to be coming next but she centered her stance and waited for someone to make a move.

When Lucy called out Scorpio and created that sandstorm Natsu and Gray were locked in close combat. As soon as the sand covered them Gray kicked Natsu in the chest and followed it by an ice lance which sent him flying through the air. Lucy was grateful for that. She switched back to whip form, caught her husband the ankle and flung him towards Erza.

As confused as Erza had been by all the sand she knew that Lucy was using it as a cover or a distraction. She was waiting for her to make her move so when she noticed Natsu coming at her, she smiled. It was a good trick she decided. One that required a lot of trust to trade opponent's mid-battle and it kept their enemies off balance.

Erza requipped into her flame empress armor and met Natsu's roar head on. There was once more a flurry of movement as punches and kicks where thrown between Erza and Natsu. Erza was shocked at how much strength Natsu managed to hit her with. She could feel her armor dent whenever he hit her and his flames were so much stronger than she remembered.

Lucy turned her attention towards Gray. She donned her Sagittarius Star dress and charged her arrow with Loke's power. The first shield that Gray made shattered when she hit it so he jumped over the next one. He was trying to get in close because those arrows were bloody powerful. Not even Natsu's roar could destroy his shields in one hit.

Once he was close enough he thought he would be able to force her into close combat. She seemed to be on the same level as he was when it came to close quarters. They both could keep up with Erza but only for a few minutes until he needed to gain some distance between them as well.

Gray assumed Lucy would get rid of the bow when he covered his hands in ice and tried to destroy the bow in her hand. Instead she flipped backwards, dodging his fist and fired another arrow. This one hit the ground shattering all the ice that he covered the floor in.

The arrow was so powerful it threw everyone in the rune cage backwards and off their feet while showering them with ice. Gray resisted the urge to smile. Natsu and Erza were still going at it but she was about to do something that might have knocked Natsu out cold. Lucy's arrows had them all flying through the air.

Gray landed on his ass painfully but he ignored it and flipped over. Gray planted his hands on the ground and called out ice geyser just as Lucy landed when she flipped through the air, avoiding the ice that shattered when she destroyed the floor. Lucy was thrown off her feet and then hit in the stomach. She smirked and started to levitate. Gray paused wondering what she was about to do.

Lucy went flying towards Erza ignoring Gray for the moment. She may have been hoping that he wouldn't make a move just yet. She only needed a couple more seconds. Natsu had pushed Erza backwards and managed to keep her off balance by unleashing a whole bunch of attacks that she had never seen before.

However it didn't take Erza long to assimilate to his new fighting style and pick up on what his news moves did. She was starting to pick up speed and start countering his attacks when Natsu reached out his hand seemingly grasping air. It took a moment for Erza's eyes widen when she realized what they were doing. By then he caught Lucy's hand and threw at her Erza.

Erza was impressed. They fought as one person switching between their opponents as easily breathing giving them both time to recover from the battle. They were able to sense where the other person was and they had trust in each other. They both allowed themselves to be thrown any which way and were still able to read each other's movements. It was something she had never seen before.

"Star dress Taurus." Lucy called out and her outfit changed again.

Erza dropped all thoughts about being impressed and went back to her fight. They were doing a really good job of putting up a really good fight and she was going to honor them by giving it her all.

Lucy punched Erza in the gut with the force of Taurus behind her. Natsu went back to brawling with Gray. Erza requipped her weapons and the two women once more exchanged blows. Lucy was glowing with Loke's power. While Erza was using her swords against her to absorb the impact from the lions power which probably would have destroyed any armor that she chose to wear. Lucy grinned at her. If she could keep up with her then maybe all she needed was a little more help.

Lucy called out Loke who immediately appeared in a flash of light and started to fight with glowing fists. It was similar to the ones that Lucy was currently using. The two were able to fight in perfect synch, not getting in each other's way as Erza was slowly but surely overcome by the relentless attacks.

Natsu grinned when Lucy managed to fight Erza on more or less equal terms. It was obvious that Erza was more experienced but Lucy could keep up and he also noticed the gleam in Erza's eyes. Erza respected Lucy as a mage. She acknowledged her as a worthy opponent and as a good fighter. He was proud of how far Lucy had come.

"Times up. It's a draw." Called out Mystogan and Natsu groaned. He knew that putting a timer on the match would ruin it but then he caught sight of Lucy's tired but proud smile and he stopped fighting.

It was Lucy's idea not to let the match go on for more than half an hour. If it did then they probably would never stop and get out of control. They had just wanted to test each other and while they all knew they had other cards to play those were for actual enemies. They didn't want to take the risk of hurting anyone so for now they all just called it a draw.

They called it a draw but in terms of injuries Gray and Erza were more worn down than Lucy and Natsu. If given enough time it was obvious that the couple would have won this match. Erza could also tell that Natsu had been holding back a lot of power. Mostly because he didn't want to break anything or hurt them or maybe because he wanted Lucy to fight more than him. He was giving her a chance to test her abilities and show off her abilities. Natsu didn't want to steal the spotlight from her.

"You are very skilled Lucy." Said Erza and the blonde woman beamed at her, "You were better than I heard. I'm glad I was able to keep up."

Natsu and Gray were arguing when Lucy sighed, "Natsu." She called out and the pink haired man was immediately at her side. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her full on the lips and they all laughed when they heard Wendy 'eep' and cover her eyes.

"You did great, better than I expected." He whispered to her and Erza couldn't help but smile at what she was seeing. She had been worried that things wouldn't be the same and it wasn't but at the same time it was so much better. How could anyone deny him when he loved her like that? Lucy made him so happy it was hard not to accept her.

It was something new but then again a lot had changed in the past year and everything for the better at least that's what she believed. They were growing up and moving onto the next stages of their lives and that was just another part of life. She was glad that he had found someone to share his life with, someone that loved him just as fiercely as he loved her.


	12. Chapter 12

AN: A reviewer said that in the fight with Lucy vs. Gajeel, I under sold her since she should be a lot stronger than Gajeel at this time. I re did the fight. I need Lucy to end up pinned to the tree for plot purposes but I changed the fight. I hope its better now.

Chapter 12

A month after their first sparring session Natsu managed to reform Team Natsu. He would have managed to do it sooner if Erza hadn't gone on an S-class mission. He gave her some time to heal since she had some bandages on her when she returned. Then he finally got the chance to ask if they could join her on a couple missions.

They were once again called the strongest team in Fairy Tail. Once Gray agreed to try going on missions with them, Lucy couldn't help but laugh, two dragon slayers (when Wendy joined them), an S-class mage, an ice mage and a stellar mage made a powerful force to be reckoned with however Lucy was just glad that she had her team back.

The guild wasn't the same, but then again the main reason for that was because she was different this time. She wasn't a stranger to all of them. She was Natsu's wife and technically a mother. No one interacted with her the same way they did the first time that they had met. Lucy understood it. The different ways people treated her but they were also different.

Mystogan and Siegrain were around a lot more and they seemed to have a little bromance going on with Laxus. The Thunder God tribe was already orbiting around the Strauss siblings even though it was obvious that their friendship was still very new.

Bisca and Alzack seemed to be more aware of each other. They were not comfortable in their relationship the way they had been when they returned from Tenrou Island. It was more like they were still finding their feet in their new type of relationship. While everyone else seemed to be comfortable with the changes in their guild mates.

Lucy had already befriended Levy and the two girls could often be found in the guild gossiping and trading books. Lucy was even encouraging her to learn more powerful defensive magic. Wendy would often join them and Levy would give her different medical textbooks that she managed to find. Wendy learned that more she knew about how the body worked the easier it made it to heal with her magic.

Lucy was extremely proud of how far Wendy was coming with her magic. She was so much more powerful than she had been in the last timeline but it seemed like she was just more confident in her abilities. It helped that she understood what she was doing thanks to Natsu's careful training so she understood her capabilities.

After Team Natsu's first mission Lucy declared that Erza and Gray would join in the training sessions that Natsu held for her. Just because they were back didn't mean that she was going to stop training and then there was the fact that they destroyed the entire town.

There was no way she was going to wait for them to figure out how to work together. She remembered that conversation fondly. No one wanted more training after all the work that they had been putting in recently. Gray had thrown a little tantrum about the extra work Lucy wanted them to do and everyone had gotten a glimpse of evil Lucy.

"Why should I spend more time with flame brain?" shouted Gray.

Lucy glared at him so fiercely that he nearly wished he could melt into the pavement. He half wished that it was Erza he was facing because that woman was bloody scary when she wanted to be. At least he knew what Erza would do to him if he pissed her off. Lucy was an unknown.

"You will be attending because if we are going to be on a team together then you will get over this pettiness. Your fights might be amusing when we are in the guild but when on a job the two of you cannot coordinate with each other. We ended up ruining their farming fields. That means they probably won't be able to grow food and sell it which means that we just ruined their income for about six months and we have none of the reward and I have a child to feed."

Gray would never admit it but angry Lucy was not something that he ever wanted to see again. He rather have Erza on his case because she was merciless when it came to their mistakes and he felt about three inches tall when he realized what the damage they had caused would do to the town. He never really realized the effect of the damaged lands would have on the villages in the area.

"We have to be able to work together and I know you two can do it. You just want to act like a little kid but here's a newsflash for you, he grew up now its your turn."

Lucy turned to Erza and raised an eyebrow, "Will you join as well?"

Erza smiled at her and nodded her head, "It is a good idea. We cannot afford to keep getting in each other's way. We could end up hurting the civilians in the process."

Their first training session was nearly a train wreck but after a couple of days they found their rhythm. Gray would probably never admit it but the he and Natsu did work well together when they were focused on the enemy and not each other.

They still brawled but they were more responsible about where and when so that no one got caught up in it. Lucy realized that Gray had matured a bit since Natsu wasn't egging him on as much anymore

In the first time line Erza and Lucy had trouble connecting to each other. It wasn't either girls fault but they had been very different in the beginning. Erza had been protecting herself from her past and Jellal and everything that happened to her. Erza had made herself into a strong woman and a protector. One who never wanted to show any weakness and had a hard time letting people close to her heart. She struggled with her girly side and wasn't always comfortable around Lucy.

Lucy on the other hand had been very naïve. The opposite of Erza basically. Lucy was a girly girl who didn't know how to reach a woman of such strength and she didn't have much in common with her. They were friends there was no doubt about that but they hadn't had much time to get to know each other and connect as the only girls in the group. Eventually they built a strong friendship but it had taken time, a lot of time.

Lucy was determined to change that and since Erza wasn't carrying around so much guilt over the past she believed that it wouldn't be as hard as it had been in another lifetime. One afternoon after they sparred Erza explained her past to everyone. It was only new knowledge to Gray but it showed her trust and her faith in her team. It also helped everyone understand her now because Lucy doubted that they would be going back to the Tower of Heaven.

Erza explained about Jellal and how he had been possessed and then he ended up being saved. Gray found out that Siegrain had changed his name and left the past behind him. Erza also assumed that Mystogan was really his twin.

They would tell her about Edolas when Siegrain decided to do that-if he ever decided to tell her about it. Then team had a group hug and went back to training but when they were done, Lucy insisted that Erza accompany her when she went shopping.

Erza struggled with her girly side but slowly Lucy chipped away at her issues. She started slowly so she didn't overwhelm the other girl. She showed her little things like make up, manicures, hairstyles, new clothes, shoes and Lucy spoke to Erza about guys all the time. Lucy blushed ten shades of red when she asked about her sex life with Natsu but Lucy answered her questions.

Erza would also spar with her whenever they had time, showing her new ways to use her weapons and show her new moves that she could learn. They had a much more solid friendship than what they had in the previous time line.

Gray and Natsu were always as close as brothers even though they acted like rivals and this time around they were much more in synch. The only time they really fought in synch was during the Tartaros battle. Now they could read each well and even though they fought with each other they both knew that he would fight to protect Natsu and the family that he had created.

The fact that Natsu trusted him to protect Lucy and his daughter if something went wrong almost made the ice mage tear up even if he never admitted it. He had for a long time been alone and now he wasn't. He still couldn't believe that flame brain decided to get married and adopted the cutest kid on the planet. However Natsu trusted him to keep them safe if something happened.

Sometimes he would wonder how the hell he managed to find a new family especially after what happened the last time he sought to create a family. Then Lucy would smile at him warmly and feed him and he realized that this woman that Natsu found was his little sister now.

She managed to burrow a way into his heart and they were family. Gray knew he would die for his family. That blue haired little girl was his niece and he would kill anyone that tried to take her away. He would even protect Natsu, to ensure that he made it home at the end of the day because someone was waiting for him to come home.

They went on jobs, hung out at the guild, trained and ate at the Dragneel house. Gray and Erza often shared one of the guest rooms in the house since they stayed over a lot. They knew they could use both rooms but they didn't want to cause too much of a mess for Lucy to clean up.

The boys had spent their childhood together and Gray didn't mind sharing with her. They shared one room with Erza on the bed and Gray on a sleeping bag on the floor. They contributed to the food money that Lucy spent every month since they spent more time in this house than in their own places.

Four months after Lucy had joined the guild Erza woke up earlier than Lucy. She opened the windows to let the morning air when she noticed that there was a package outside her home. She carried it inside and placed it on the kitchen counter waiting for Lucy to wake up while she did some exercise.

Once Lucy was awake she noticed the package and raised a questioning eyebrow at the red haired woman. She simply shrugged and said that she found it outside the house. There was an envelope underneath the package.

Natsu plucked it out of her hands and read it out loud.

Lucy & Natsu

Keep the package safe.

I'll be in Magnolia soon to pick it up.

Stay safe.

Yours

Papa

Gray raised an eyebrow at her and questioned, "Papa?"

Lucy simply shrugged, "My father sent us something to protect. Why?"

She tore open the paper and found what looked like a jewelry box. It wasn't very big and it looked similar to a music box. The box wasn't even heavy and it was locked.

Lucy slapped Natsu's wrist when he moved to try and do something stupid like burn the lock off. She took the box away and put it inside her bedroom. She stared at the wooden box for a moment wondering if she should just let Natsu open it.

She bit her lip and shook her head. Her father told her to protect it. If she opened the box and found something fragile it would end up broken by the end of the day. She put the box in the closet with the rest of the boxes that she had in there, hiding it in plain sight. Her father would come and take it off her hands soon. She could always ask what was inside then.

"Do you know why he sent that to you?" asked Erza and Lucy shook her head.

"He said he'll be by soon to pick it up so I'll wait and ask when he gets back. So no Natsu we are not going to force it open. We might damage something inside. He might have thought someone would steal it. There had been some maids that stole stuff from the house."

Gray narrowed his eyes in confusion, "Maids?"

Lucy shrugged once more, "Before I married Natsu, my name was Heartfilia. As in the heiress to the Heartfilia Konzern. I still technically am the heiress but papa doesn't need me to run the business. It will probably be passed to one of my children if they want it or I'll sell it."

That sparked the whole conversation about why she gave up the life of an heiress for the life of a mage. There were also questions on how she met Natsu if her were an heiress. Gray even asked her about her father and if he allowed them to leave. Lucy explained that it was his idea for them to get married and they agreed.

They had to go on to explain that they actually did want to get married but they hadn't been expecting it to happen so soon. Lucy explained her mothers passing, her father and their issues but that it eventually got better between them. Honestly, they spent the whole morning bonding over her past.

"Could it be something dangerous Lucy?" asked Erza when they had the full story and they finally started discussing the package again.

Lucy shook her head, "I highly doubt that. Its probably something valuable. My father isn't a mage so he wouldn't have any dangerous magical artifacts and he would tell me if he was sending something dangerous to me. He knows I have Wendy to think about. He wouldn't put his granddaughter in danger."

Three days later they actually forgot about the box. They had gone with Erza as her backup on one of her S-class missions and when they returned the guild was as lively as ever. Mira had recently started to take on more bar-maid duties. She preferred to only go on S-class missions every couple of weeks instead of going with her siblings on every request.

It seemed that no matter what happened Mira was destined to become the head bar maid even if she wasn't afraid to punch people in the face this time. Elfman and Lisanna were doing well without Mira to fall back on. They wanted more experience without her as a crutch and she was tired of going out all the time. It seemed like after all the time she had spent fighting she didn't mind only going on missions that paid well now and then giving her some down time.

A week after they had forgotten about the package, Team Natsu had been hanging out at the guild. Mystogan and Siegrain had left a couple days before they returned on a job. Wendy had been sad that she missed both of them while Lucy and Erza were discussing the job that they had just returned from when Natsu turned sharply and narrowed his eyes at the door.

"Lucy." The blonde woman turned sharply towards his urgent tone of voice.

She was about to question her husband on the urgency of the situation when the doors were thrown open. A blonde man wearing a torn suit, stained with blood fell through the doors silencing the guild. The man was a stranger to most of them they were so shocked none of them moved but Lucy did.

"Papa." She cried out and raced towards the fallen man with tears in her eyes.

Master Makarov immediately stood no trace of humor on his face or in his eyes. The stern expression deeply contrasted with the jesters outfit he was wearing. Lucy's team immediately tensed for battle while Mira and Laxus suddenly grew very focused searching for any hint of a threat. Lucy turned the man she claimed to be her father onto his back. Wendy moved next, crying for her grandfather as she skidded on the floors of the guild in her haste to heal him.

"Mama, the blood loss, I can't heal it." She whispered.

Lucy looked at the young girl with unseeing eyes. She was too lost in the horror in her own head to process anything. Natsu took hold of her shoulders and pulled her towards his chest and away from his unconscious form, trying to get her to snap back to reality.

"We'll take him to the hospital. You did all you can Wendy. The blood loss can be dealt with in a hospital. Luce, you gotta let him go darlin'."

"Natsu." She whispered but the young woman looked lost and afraid and she didn't know what to do.

Jude grabbed his daughters hand and pulled her down roughly, "He'll come for the box. Don't give it to him. Don't let him get away with it."

Lucy was shocked back to reality at his urgent tone of voice and she grabbed his hand back, "What's inside papa?"

Jude took a deep breath but he was struggling to maintain consciousness, "Evidence. Murderer." He whispered to her before falling unconscious again.

Lucy stared at her father confused but Master Makarov put a hand on her shoulder while Natsu and Laxus appeared next to her. At the sight of so many of her family, she knew that she had to let him go. Her father needed help and clinging to him like this wasn't helping anyone. Her family was here. They would protect her and they would help her find answers.

Levy stood just outside the guild and said, "Solid script: Gurney"

Laxus and Natsu carried the man to the gurney Levy created. They took him to the hospital while Lucy processed everything that just happened.

"Lucy what was he talking about?" asked Master Makarov and Erza was the one who answered.

They led Lucy to the bar and placed a milkshake in front of her while Erza told them about the package her father sent her almost a week ago.

"He was coming to pick it up." she whispered and Makarov stared at the young girl. There was something they were missing here.

Lucy seemed to sense what he was thinking and spoke again, explaining who her father was and he power that he held.

"I don't know what he's talking about though. He didn't say anything. We write but he doesn't talk much about his work. He sent me the box but he just told me to keep if safe until he came for it. I thought he believed the maids might steal it."

"Your father said that whatever he sent you was evidence probably in a murder investigation. The person he caught probably did that to him. It is possible they were trying to get evidence back. We'll keep a look out for him and your team can protect your home. The person that did this will eventually show themselves and then we will make them pay. We do not take attacks on our family lightly."

Natsu found Lucy in their bedroom while Erza went to the guest room since it was closer to the back door while Gray decided to sleep in the lounge. Happy decided to sleep in Wendy's room on her bed and far away from Carla. The white cat nearly gorged an eye out when he tried to snuggle up to her on her bed. He wanted to keep an extra eye on Wendy just in case someone tried sneaking in or breaking in they had all the exits and entrances covered.

"Luce you holding up okay?" he asked her and she shook her head.

"This never happened before. He was never attacked Natsu." She replied and he held her tightly to his chest as she cried.

"This isn't your fault Lucy. You didn't make him do anything."

"But Natsu I-" and that was far as she got because he covered her mouth with his hand and shook his head.

"You are not a God Lucy. Things will happen that we don't expect and it won't be your fault. People get hurt every day and that isn't your fault. As we change things with the best intentions in mind we cannot protect the people we love from life itself. Bad things happen and sometimes there's nothing we can do to stop it but we can make sure that we learn from it. We'll find whoever did this and then we'll make sure that they never do it again but that's all you can do."

Lucy sighed, "When did you get so smart?" she asked him as she calmed down and Natsu rolled his eyes at her as he replied, "I listened to you."

They shared a kiss which led to a pleasurable night for Lucy. The thought of checking the box had come to mind but at the same time she didn't want to look inside. It was possible that if she brought attention to the fact that she had it then it could be stolen.

It was also possible that they would destroy the evidence inside. Her father was not a stupid man. She remembered the safety precautions he had installed on her mothers jewelry box. If she tried to force it open they could compromise the evidence inside.

In the morning when the Team went to the guild and found it destroyed by iron poles. Lucy paled as she realized that somehow Phantom Lord decided to pick a fight about six months too soon and she had no idea why.

She and Natsu shared a look and he immediately pulled her aside, "Do you think this is about what my father sent me?" she asked him and Natsu shrugged.

"Jose was involved in some shady shit. When he was arrested it was a big thing but we didn't pay much attention to the details so its possible but I don't know." He replied.

Lucy bit her lip as she stared at the destroyed guild, "It could also be because Siegrain joined Fairy Tail. He is an ex-wizard saint. Jose attacked the last time because Fairy Tail was getting too powerful. People were talking about Laxus, Mystogan, Erza, Mira and even you, the Salamander. Maybe having another powerful wizard sent him over the edge."

Lucy watched as the master refused to start a guild war over something as trivial as a destroyed building. Since no one was inside it when they attacked he didn't really care. Makarov also had to wonder for a moment whether or not this attack was related to the one on Lucy's father. However without proof he didn't have much of a choice but to wait and see what the magic council would do.

Lucy on the other hand knew that the Master lived in the guild that meant that he was here the first time they attacked. He was here last night when Gajeel attacked as well. The fact that he wasn't going to attack or even stop the attack sent a much more powerful message.

Their attack was so pathetic that he hadn't even bothered to stop Gajeel and he could have done so. Makarov had been here instead he let them do whatever they wanted. She also believed that Jose knew that the master lived in the guild. The fact that he didn't attack back was probably the reason why he ended up sending Gajeel after Levy and her team. Jose was trying to force Makarov to take him seriously. It would work but it would also cause his downfall.

The building didn't make the guild. Makarov insisted that he didn't have a reason to accept such a poor invitation for a war. The respect that she held for the master grew. She knew that Laxus was probably here as well when it happened and the master held him back. The fact that Laxus was able to keep his temper over something like this was actually surprising to her. He was becoming the man that she had known years before his time.

She couldn't help but be proud of him for manning up and taking responsibility for his actions. She also couldn't wait for the absolute terror he would bring to Phantom once Makarov finally allowed Laxus off his leash. The only reason he wasn't moving was out of respect for the Master.

Lucy knew that this would escalate but for now Team Shadow Gear was out of town on a job. Gajeel wouldn't be able to attack Levy so for now her best friend was safe. Jose wouldn't just let it go. Lucy wasn't stupid enough to believe that just because Levy wasn't here now meant that this wouldn't escalate into a full blown war.

Someone would be attacked and once it happened Master Makarov would march. Natsu was already trying to keep an eye on everyone in the guild but so far nothing was happening. It was just a matter of time before something happened. They all knew it would get worse but no one knew what would happen. Lucy knew Natsu was frustrated because it didn't happen this way the first time. All they could was keep an eye out for Gajeel.

Lucy decided to go visit her father in the hospital while they waited for the other shoe to drop. Most of the guild members were already accounted for so she had no idea who he would attack or even when it would happen. There was no point in sitting around doing nothing.

Lucy stayed at the hospital until sunset and then she went and picked up some groceries so she could make dinner. Erza and Gray would probably stay as well. She knew that Happy and Carla were with Wendy, keeping an extra protective eye on the young mage. Natsu was at the guild probably making sure that everyone was there or that they got home safe.

As she passed Magnolia Park she heard something that made her blood run cold. Lucy dropped her groceries and ran. She heard Levy scream and she heard Droy call out some sort of attack and a very familiar laugh that sent shivers down her spine.

Lucy looked down the tiny hill not far from the tree that they had to pry Levy off so long ago. Lucy saw her best friend and her team fighting with everything that they had and then some. She winced when she noticed that nothing seemed to hit him.

Lucy noticed Levy's bags strewn about the top of the hill. Levy probably went tumbling down when he attacked her. They were headed back home to the guild when Gajeel caught them unaware. Levy hadn't even known about the attack. Lucy felt her jaw clench in anger. She owed Gajeel a punch in the teeth for beating her during the Phantom debacle the first time and for this mess.

She was not dressed for combat. Lucy was wearing jeans and a pink top with some black lace. She didn't like to flaunt her body so much anymore. She didn't like the attention she drew and she hated the fact that no one took her seriously when she dressed like that.

Lucy didn't have the time to care about her clothes getting ruined. There was no way in hell that she was going to pry her best friend off a bloody tree ever again. She requipped the Libra key to her hand and opened her gate by merely calling the spirits name.

Her spirits gravity magic trapped him place and stopped his advance on Levy and her team. The force of gravity created a crater in the ground. Lucy could hear Gajeel cursing and tried not to grin. She kept sending him crashing into the dirt every time he tried to force his way out of Libra's gravity spell. Lucy flew down and took a protective stance in front of her friend.

"Levy return to the guild. Tell the master that Phantom attacked you. Tell him that one of the S-class wizards in Phantom uses airspace magic to steal magic and that he can hide his presence in the air space and send Natsu to me."

Levy started to protest when Gajeel started moving and Libra increased her power to keep him place and Lucy turned and hissed at her, "He is a dragon slayer Levy. We can't beat him but you have information and you're injured and I can keep him busy. Go now."

Levy hated what she was about to do. She didn't want to do it but with tears in her eyes she turned and ran with Jet and Droy hot on her heels. She didn't look back. Levy didn't think she could bare seeing Lucy standing there over that monster all by herself. She was determined to get to Natsu because he would kill the other dragon slayer for touching his precious wife.

Gajeel sneered at the blonde woman with the pink mark on her hand. He smirked a celestial mage was useless without their keys. Before he could try and take her keys or even try to figure out where she was hiding them since she wasn't wearing them in plain sight, she called out something.

"Star dress Sagittarius."

Lucy powered her arrow with Loke's power and she felt immense satisfaction when she managed to break his iron scales with her arrows when they hit his arms. Gajeel narrowed his eyes at the new Fairy. She managed to break his scales and that was something the little blue haired girl couldn't do. At the same time she wanted to keep distance between them.

The fact that she chose a long distance fighter was proof of that. She knew that he was stronger and she didn't want to fight him in close quarters, knowing that he would probably snap her bones in half. She had magic power, he could feel it. However he was bigger and stronger physically. If she exhausted her magic too quickly he would break her bones if he managed to hit her.

Gajeel growled when she shot two arrows at his knees with lightning speed. He realized that he underestimated the woman. The speed at which she was firing those arrows were doing more damage than he anticipated. He used his breath attack to make her get rid of that bow and arrow because those things hurt like bitches.

Lucy saw the breath attack coming and she jumped over it. The bow disappeared in a flash of light and she called her whip to her hand. She managed to flick her whip at him a couple of times. He cursed out loud when the diamond at the end of the whip, encased in light ripped his iron scales apart.

Gajeel was even more shocked when he realized that the diamond ripped into his skin underneath his scales. He was already bleeding shallowly and it fucking hurt every time she managed to land a hit on him. He responded by hitting her in the stomach with his iron club. She coughed up blood.

Lucy gasped in pain and cursed herself. She had been trying to plan her attack and didn't see the club coming. Lucy lost her concentration and fell out of the sky. She rolled through the grass and coughed up some blood. She hadn't been wearing any protective gear. That punch knocked the wind out of her.

He laughed at and sent the club at her again. Lucy tapped into the Cancer stardress and used the knives to intercept the iron club. Lucy managed to catch her pole before it hit her body but Gajeel could extend the bloody pole.

Once he hit her knives he continued to extend the beam, driving her downwards and backwards. Lucy felt the skin on her back peel off as she went sliding in the dirt. She groaned out in pain. Those fucking iron rods hurt more than she remembered.

When he beat her in Phantom he had been bored and posturing to the others in the guild. He didn't use magic on her. He just roughed her up by tossing her around. Most of the bruises came from crashing into the walls and floors. She could remember being hit by the club once and then hitting a wall before Natsu showed up.

Now she was sure he broke a rib and she had to blink the dark spots out of her eyes. She was not going to down after one hit and eating some dirt. Not after all the training that she had done. A fairy always gets up that was Natsu's mantra. He said it every time he convinced her to get back on the beam and face him again and again. Lucy got back up and wiped the blood from her mouth.

She glared at him as he stood over her pining her to the ground with that club. Lucy dropped the knives which gave her a split second to wipe his feet out from under him. Gajeel saw the move coming and jumped backwards giving her enough room to move. At least he wasn't pining her to ground anymore.

He narrowed his eyes when she requipped two keys to her hands. Lucy opened the gates of Scorpio and Virgo and donned her star dress for Taurus. She needed his strength and then she went after him with her hands glowing with Loke's power.

Gajeel learned his lesson with her bow. He would never let her use it again but he recognized the power that was covering her hands. She grinned as he carefully took note of where she was standing. He was probably looking for the two spirits that she called out. She didn't give him time to find them. Lucy went after him throwing punches and kicks as fast as she could.

Virgo already dug several holes all over the place and then she returned to the spirit world. Scorpio provided cover with his sand distracting and confusing him before returning as well. She needed to limit his senses as much as she could but Gajeel was getting used to her fighting style.

"Guess your guild ain't all trash girlie you were fun to fight." He sneered at her before using his breath attack again and clearing away the sand.

Lucy drew her staff and cursed violently. She had been doing well against him once she limited her senses but he managed to keep up with her speed. She was going to switch between long distance attacks and close quarters.

However she couldn't keep in close quarters for too long. His physical strength greatly surpassed hers. He was beating her bloody with every hit he got in and there were many. She was taking too much damage in close quarters and he wasn't giving her the opportunity to create distance. He noticed that every time she managed to get some distance between them she pulled out a new trick.

Lucy's arms were sore. Her body was bruised and she was not getting anywhere fighting him. It was like hitting a brick wall even covered in Loke's power. She could feel her knuckles split from where she was punching him. She could feel her blood running down her hands and eventually he got sick and tired of her. He didn't even give her time to try and cast a more powerful spell. He tackled her and they both fell through one of Virgo's holes.

They rolled through the unstable ground. Virgo had created an uneven ground so that he would lose his balance but he didn't care. Gajeel was covered in his scales which protected him. Lucy didn't have any armor. Her plan was to send him flying through the craters, keeping him off guard and on unstable ground. However he never gave her the chance to put her plan into action.

Gajeel had picked up on the fact that she would need some distance to pull of her tricks. He kept the fight in close quarters and became frustrated with the fight. Even though she was taking more damage, Gajeel was still bleeding and bruised in several places. She even managed to bust his lip and nose.

He pulled her down into the craters with him. They rolled through the uneven ground, knowing that the holes had compromised the land. It was like fighting in a collapsing tunnel. Lucy called Aries and the spirit covered the place in wool before returning to the spirit world.

Lucy had been trying to limit the damage her body was taking. Dragon Slayers had tougher skin and they were harder to bruise but Lucy was just a normal human. Her bones were screaming as the iron dragon slayer slammed into her. She didn't know if the ground bruised her or the iron body of Gajeel who was still kicking and punching every chance he got. Lucy was trapped between collapsing tunnels and the iron body of Gajeel.

They both fought as they climbed out of the tunnels. They were biting and clawing at each other until they managed to get to more stable ground. The craters that Virgo had created weren't that big but they did destroy half the park.

Gajeel hit her with his breath attack again and she immediately spun her staff. It created a mini circle of fire that absorbed the impact of the breath attack but not completely. She was sent flying backwards when Gajeel moved, taking the opening. His breath attack and her shield obscured her vision for the few seconds it took for the attack to be absorbed. He was waiting behind her.

Before Lucy could even realized that Gajeel had moved he already sent a punishing round house kick to the back of her head. She probably got a concussion from the force of that kick.

Lucy staggered to her feet, trying to clear her vision when the pillar pierced her flesh. He had pinned her to the bloody tree. She felt her hand twitch with the need to smack that smug grin off his face.

"In the end, you couldn't stop me either. I'm still the strongest."

"Don't think this is over." Replied Lucy.

She was tired and those few words had taken the last of her strength. She could have kept going but then he impaled her to the tree. The amount of blood she was losing made her head spin even more than the concussion.

The pain was worse than anything she had ever felt. She couldn't keep her eyes open. Her head was pounding. She finally just passed out seeking the bliss of the darkness where she wouldn't feel the pain anymore with a smile on her face. Natsu was on his way. He would miss Gajeel but this would not go unanswered.

Levy ran for the guild, stumbling and confused at the state it was in. Levy, Jet and Droy didn't know why the guild was destroyed or when it happened or why but for now they ignored the damages to the guild.

Levy started calling for Natsu. He had to be able to hear her by now. She had been running so fast and hard she couldn't get enough air into her lungs to call for him before. Now at the steps of the guild she forced her lips to speak his name.

Natsu met her outside and his eyes widened at the state she was in. She huffed out that Phantom attacked. When she said Lucy's name Natsu was already moving towards the park uncaring of anything that anyone said. Levy didn't even get the chance to explain everything that happened but they heard all they needed too. The rest of the guild took off on his heels with the Master in the front.

Gajeel was gone by the time they arrived. The Master and the rest of the guild came to an abrupt stop at the sight of the park. They stared at the amount of destruction that surrounded them. Nothing had been spared. There were holes in the ground, craters from where someone had landed roughly, blood in some places but the tree was the only thing standing even though several others were in pieces.

"Lucy." Natsu whispered her name in horror.

The blonde woman opened her eyes when she heard him. Wendy neared them and Natsu could hear their daughter gasp. He immediately covered her eyes not wanting her to see Lucy like this but he had a feeling that she had managed to catch a glimpse of Lucy hanging there. She probably would never be able to forget it.

"Gave him a good trashing Natsu, broke his nose and tore his scales." She whispered and coughed up some blood, "He got a lucky shot."

Makarov stared at the blonde woman that he had only known for a few months. Lucy was so much more than just another new guild member. She was Natsu's wife. Erza and Gray had claimed her as a younger sister. She was a mother to another dragon slayer that she had brought to the guild. He didn't even want to think about what Mystogan and Siegrain would do when they heard about this. They all knew that they cared for the blonde woman as a sister.

He could feel his grandsons magic crackle. He could feel Erza's and Grays anger but Natsu's was so different. His anger was like a calm ocean. A fury he was barely restraining and when he let it out there would be nothing that survived his wrath for this.

Makarov took a deep breath and his cane shattered in his hand as he glowed with power, "They destroyed a building and I didn't care. However no parent will stay calm when faced with their child's blood. Gather your brothers and sisters. We march to Phantom. We march to war."


	13. Chapter 13

AN: The person that Jose murdered is important but you won't hear about that person and the reason why he did it until chapter 17.

Chapter 13 – Phantom Lord Part 1

Natsu ordered Wendy to keep her eyes closed as he pried Lucy off the tree. She really didn't need to see her mother hanging there like some sort of twisted message to their guild. He didn't want to think of the scolding that he would get from Lucy for letting their daughter see something so life scarring.

Natsu gently laid her on the ground trying to keep his hands of her bruises. There were so many that there wasn't an inch for her perfect skin that wasn't covered in blood, bruises or cuts. His blood boiled but the only thing that was keeping him sane and not turning into a monster of mass destruction was the fact that gramps had already declared war and the fact that Lucy needed him right now. He also couldn't just run off and leave Wendy to deal with this on her own.

He had to keep his cool or even more people would get hurt. More of his family would be injured and this time Wendy was here. She hadn't been present the first time they went to war with Phantom and Jose was a twisted son of a bitch. He would hurt her just because she was young.

He had to remember the many ways that this all went to hell the first time and ensure that it didn't happen again. He also needed to keep his head in the game and pay attention to what was happening around him. Things were going differently this time. He couldn't rely on the information from the future but he couldn't disregard it entirely either. He just needed to be aware.

Wendy managed to stop the bleeding. Giving her mother emergency treatment had terrified the young girl. She had never needed to heal someone so badly injured that she cared about so much. It reminded him of the time that she needed healing after Minerva's treatment of her during the naval battle.

It was one if his worst memories and some of the worst injuries she had gotten. It hadn't been the first or the last time that she had been injured but it was one of the few times she needed emergency treatment. He always hated when she was hurt. It always felt like he had failed her when she was like this and he cursed. He should have been here to kick Gajeel in the teeth.

However he also knew that Lucy wanted to be able to fight him. She had been helpless once and now she had spent an entire year dedicated to her magic and training. She wanted to be able to stand against 12 assholes whose magic power was enough to destroy a bloody country. If she couldn't defeat Gajeel then it would be all for nothing. It was never the plan for her to take him on now but it already happened and there was nothing he could do about it.

Looking at the damage all around him he knew that it wasn't for nothing. She was powerful. Some of the blood that he could smell belonged to Gajeel. Lucy wasn't able to take him down yet but she managed to make him bleed and that meant progress. It meant she was getting there one step at a time and she managed to protect her friend. He was proud of her even if he hated the position that she was in now.

Erza stood in front of the fallen form of her friend. The woman that she was quickly coming to see as a little sister while her daughter was left to heal her with tears in her eyes. Erza's eyes burned with anger. There would be retribution for this. She wouldn't let a single person escape her wrath and looking at the members of her guild she knew she would not be alone. This was a sin. An unforgivable sin and they would bow before the Fairy Queen and beg for mercy that she would not give.

"How bad is it Wendy?" she asked.

The young girl took a deep steadying breath. Wendy knew that as a healer many of the people that she would work on would be people in the guild. Her friends and her family but to know that the first person that truly needed her help to save their life was her mother was terrifying. She was scared, so scared that she had to concentrate on ensuring that her hands didn't shake. She didn't want to show her fear to the rest of the people who were counting on her to be able to fix this.

"Internal bleeding, several broken ribs, one pierced her lung which is why she was having difficulty breathing. I healed those up but she's going to be sore for a while. I still need to heal the rest of her bruises and cuts but she isn't in immediate danger anymore. She will be weak from the blood loss for a while but she can recover that on her own."

Her voice was strong and sure even if she didn't feel it. This was what her magic was made for, the situation that called for her help. She knew what she was doing even if she couldn't bear to look at her mothers face, even if she was shaking in terror because someone had done this to her.

Wendy turned her worried gaze to her father who was carrying his wife in his arms. She knew that the person responsible would pay for this. She didn't understand fighting. She didn't like it even if she was getting good at it. Wendy didn't understand how someone could do something so horrible to another person but she also knew that they would never get the chance to do it ever again.

Natsu nodded his head to them and carried his wife back to the guild in silence. She would be safer there instead of being home alone. Wendy immediately started healing her back when they reached the guild. Lucy's back had been torn to shreds and while Wendy did that Natsu turned to the master. Everyone was gathered in the basement of Fairy Tail and none of them were happy. This was a war council and they were planning to tear Phantom to pieces.

Erza, Laxus and Master Makarov came up with a plan. Their strategy session lasted two hours by then Wendy was done healing Lucy, "She needs to sleep. It's a good thing that she didn't lose enough blood to need a transfusion but she needs rest."

"Whats the plan?" asked Natsu.

Erza gave him a smile that was all teeth. A shiver crawled up his spine as he looked at her. This was a woman who was dangerous on a good day, however today when the blood of her family stained the floor, her eyes burned with the fires of hell. He almost pitied the fools that would stand in her way.

In fact he noticed that everyone was giving him, Mira, Erza, Laxus and the master a lot of room. Almost like they were afraid to get in their way or get on their bad side. They knew that they would never hurt their family but right now they were all tense and no one wanted a brawl to break out.

It was kind of obvious that Natsu would turn the idiot that pushed him to ash at this point. Laxus had sparks fly off him every now and then and it almost made him smile. Even in the darkest of times his family always managed to bring a smile to his face.

"Mira will remain here with Lucy, Wendy and Team Shadow gear. You all need healing and we cannot leave them unprotected. Laxus is going to get Jude and bring him here as well. He was supposed to be discharged tomorrow. We don't know if Phantom was the one who attacked him or of this is just a coincidence. We'll leave them to protect our base while the rest of us accept Phantom's invitation."

Natsu didn't know why the master was purposely leaving two of their S-class mages out of the fight but at the same time he was glad. He knew that all the members of element four would not be in the guild. That meant that they would attack the guild and if something went wrong or if something happened to the master then they still had two trump cards hidden up their sleeves.

Jose wouldn't know that Mira and Laxus were in Magnolia or if they were out somewhere on a mission. Natsu supposed that the master was keeping them out of the fight until they were absolutely sure that this would be Jose's only move against them.

Fairy Tail marched on Phantom Lord as the sun rose. The Master led the charge with Natsu and Erza at his left and right respectively. Gray was behind him and the rest of Fairy Tail was currently hot on their heels. The master knew at the back of his mind that Laxus would contact Mystogan and Siegrain.

Laxus would go get Jude and then he would contact the twins and let them know about Phantom. Laxus would inform the twins of the attack on the guild, on Lucy and Levy and the fact that most of the guild marched to war. His Fairies would fly home soon, ready for combat and to protect their family probably with enough rage to destroy a small country between them and their power.

Makarov knew that the magical council would throw a tantrum for what he was about to do. For a single second he considered what they might try to do to him and wondered if he should be worried about the repercussions of fighting another wizard saint. Then he remembered the sight of his child's blood and he stopped caring altogether.

He stared at the gothic castle doors in silence. This was the only chance to change his mind and not risk the rest of his kids. However Natsu would never let it go. None of his children had come because he announced that they would march to war. They had come because he announced he was going to war and they had chosen to come with him. Jose had attacked their family. There would be no rule or council strong enough to stop this.

He spoke a single name that would start this war, "Natsu."

At the sound of the master giving him permission to start a guild war Natsu roared at the door. He was too pissed off to even punch it down like he had done in one life time but right now he didn't care. They hurt Lucy and for that he was going to tear these gothic castle rejects to pieces.

All the rage that had been simmering in his veins since he saw his wife pinned to that godforsaken tree was finally unleashed. For a single second the Master pitied the fool that touched the blonde woman then decided that he deserved it for being so stupid.

The roar from the fire dragon slayer was so powerful that he burned a hole into their guild where the front doors had once stood. The roar also destroyed a huge chunk of the room, took out multiple mages and took out the wall on the opposite side of the room. Several mages gaped at the sheer destruction from the one attack from one mage.

Several mages were sent flying through the hole he created and landed in the dark alley below them. Some of the braver mages peered through the glass windows and saw their guild mates in craters in the ground and winced at the sheer brutality of the one attack. A couple of people's eyes widened as they realized that some of them down there were still on fire and then they realized that they should be more worried about what was about to happen to them.

Erza stepped up next to him, "Heavens wheel Blumenblatt."

Hundreds of swords hit everything in the room. She destroyed furniture, caused mages to jump out of the way or dive for cover. Then she moved requipping two swords to her hands and cutting down everything and anyone that stood in her way. Nothing would survive the wrath of the Titania. She left behind a trail of destruction and unconscious mages behind her and Natsu grinned at her obvious anger.

Gray turned one half of the place into a winter wonderland. He froze so many people in place that most couldn't believe that a molding magic could be done so fast. Then he snapped his fingers and taking out another large part of their guild as the ice shattered. Gray had frozen dozens of people into a glacier when he shattered the ice huge chunks of ice went hurling in every direction. The chunks of ice took out more mages than the initial attack and caused general chaos.

Natsu could hear Gramps in Titan form declaring, "You hurt his monsters child. Don't be surprised when it comes for your blood."

Natsu dove into the thick of things. His punches and kicks covered in fire sent mages flying in every direction and then he roared. The sound of an animal calling for a challenger because he didn't want to fight these weaklings. He wanted Gajeel and he wanted to know what was taking the bastard so long to show up and fight him. They had a score to settle and this time it was personal.

Gajeel couldn't help but be slightly impressed. For a guild full of trash they sure as hell didn't mess around when it came to hitting back. So far it looked like Jose's plan was working. Most of the members of the guild were here causing chaos and their guild was unguarded. That meant that Juvia and Sol would be able to get the information they needed.

Laxus was supposed to be away on a job. They weren't sure how long he would stay away from the guild or how accurate that information was. Mystogan was rarely ever in the guild and no one was sure how true the rumours that Siegrain the former wizard saint had joined the guild.

Gajeel just wanted to fight the other dragon slayer. The one that everyone was talking about since he was supposedly so powerful. The one that used fire when he fought who was called the Salamander. There was no place for two dragons in the sky and he was determined to take his place at the top. He was going to crush the fire dragon slayer and let everyone know who was the strongest.

At least that was his thoughts until a white haired man changed into a Lizardman and sent five mages out the window with his tail. Then another white haired person who was probably his sister opened up a trail of destruction so large that they rattled him on his perch far above the rest of the guild members.

Gajeel stared at the girl in shock. She was dressed as some sort of tiger person with some wicked sharp claws. He almost pitied the moron that leered at her cleavage and she responded by kicking him through the ceiling. When the guy landed her brother stepped on him. Gajeel wasn't sure if he was dead or not.

He laughed to himself. This would be more interesting than he assumed. He jumped down hitting a whole lot of people and throwing a whole bunch of other people off their feet. At the back of his mind he knew that some of the people who got caught up in the blast were Phantom mages but he didn't care all that much. They were taught to survive on their own or die in this guild. He basked for a moment in the destruction he caused before making his declaration.

"I'm Gajeel Redfox, Phantom Lords Iron Dragon Slayer, come at me trash."

His declaration was met with widening eyes and silence from the fairies. For a moment all fighting paused as every Fairy moved away from him. Gajeel frowned, 'Were they too afraid to face him because of what he did to that Fairy?' he thought to himself. The thought brought a vicious grin to his face as he remembered pinning the blonde woman to a tree and leaving her hanging there unconscious.

If they refused to come to him then he would just have to go to them. Before he could take another step his unasked question was answered. He noticed that the Fairies weren't moving away from him. No, they were opening up a path and at the end of the corridor that they created was a pink haired man whose entire body was on fire and murder in his eyes.

"I'm Fairy Tail's Fire Dragon Slayer. Natsu Dragneel and for touching my wife, I'm going to burn you and your guild to ash."

Gajeel had just one moment to digest that he had attacked this man's wife before he got hit with a fist of flames. He immediately stopped dreaming and felt his iron scales cover his body almost subconsciously trying to protect him from the heat of the flames. Gajeel sent his own iron infused punch towards the other dragon slayer.

Several members of Phantom and Fairy Tail were forced to abandon their fights in favor of taking cover as the two dragon slayers destroyed everything that they came into contact with as they tried to beat each other into a bloody pulp.

Natsu however narrowed his eyes as he caught a punch from Gajeel. He was slow the thought and then realized it. Gajeel wasn't slow, he just wasn't as fast as he would become in the future.

Natsu was kind of shocked to realize how weak Gajeel had been when they first met. Then again they had been more or less even the first time they fought. Now with the experience that he had, Gajeel was no match for him. He could feel the iron scales shatter like glass underneath his fists.

Master Makarov ignored the fighting and the two dragon slayers knowing that nothing was going to stop Natsu from destroying his opponent. Makarov really didn't have it in him to try and stop him while he climbed the stairs and got closer to Jose. His steps and magic power may or may not have left a wake of destruction behind him but he didn't really care. They had come to demolish the guild anyway.

Jose Porla was a tall, thin man with black hair and beady eyes. His smile was too wide to be considered anything other than insane and his pasty skin tone and pointy ears made him seem more like a vampire from a story than human.

Makarov ignored every word that came out of his mouth as his magic power bled out of him. Lucy had been attacked on his order. She couldn't have been sure that she would be able to beat a dragon slayer but she tried. He knew that if Gajeel hadn't gotten that lucky hit in, they would have still been fighting when Natsu appeared. However she had also chosen to deliver a warning to him. How she had known he would ask later but for now he was going to punch this pathetic man in the teeth for hurting his children.

Makarov paused when he realized that Jose had already left the guild. His fist has passed harmlessly through his thought projection only making him angrier. The coward had left behind nothing but a thought projection of himself. Before he could lose himself to his anger he felt a slight shift of the airspace warning him that someone was behind him.

"Mets-", Makarov's giant fist hit into the large man wearing a blindfold stopping him from casting his spell that would steal his magic away from him without a second thought.

The large fat man babbled something about sorrow. Makarov didn't even look twice before he blasted the cowardly man through the floor and into the numerous fights below.

Gajeel stared at the unconscious form of Aria and he just knew that Jose was going to be pissed. He had been getting his ass kicked by the pink haired teen when the ceiling had caved in. The fact that it had been the most powerful of the element four had come crashing into his fight made things worse.

His arrival stopped the fight between him and the Salamander. However when Gajeel looked upwards he could see the glowing form of Fairy Tails Master. He looked pissed. Jose's plan didn't work since Makarov had sensed the mage. From the looks of it Makarov knocked him out without a second thought. The tiny glowing man landed by Aria's head and stared at what was left of Phantom Lord.

"Jose isn't here none of the others are here either. Let's go."

Erza stared at the destruction around them and knew that there wasn't much left for them to do. Most of the Phantom mages were out cold. Most of their guild was in ruins without their master or the rest of their S-class mages there was nothing left for them to do. She noticed that many of the mages were already inching their way backwards not wanting to fight anymore without their master or the element four to protect them.

Natsu punched Gajeel in the face one more time and walked away. They would probably get another chance to fight without him holding back but right now in this moment he had won. Gajeel was more wounded than he was and even though they could keep going neither of them saw the point. They didn't have much to fight for if Jose wasn't there to give him his new orders since the plan didn't go right. Natsu on the other hand, had kicked Gajeel in the teeth.

Jose was pissed. He needed Jude Heartfilia. Ever since the man had entered the political field he knew that this one was going to be a problem. He liked Fairy Tail and he was determined to protect them. Normally a business man wouldn't provide too much trouble for him. He was after all a wizard saint and non-mages didn't have much of a pull on the magic council but they did have some power.

The King and his army were just one force in their country. The magic council on the other hand handled all the guilds and the people who could crush the royal army all by themselves. However they needed the support of the King and the other nobles.

The magic council and the King more or less had the same amount of power. They both aimed at keeping the country safe but without the donations from the nobles the magic council wouldn't be able to cover all the damages that came from magical fights.

Basically the King took care of the Kingdom and the non-mages while the magic council dealt with the guilds and the problems that they caused. They charged taxes and they had a fund from the royal family but without the support of the nobles then they would fall and Jude Heartfilia had a lot of pull.

There had been rumors that his business wasn't doing well but that didn't last long. He got a new accountant found the people who were embezzling money and took back his money with a lot of interest. All in all the man had money and a title and the magic council couldn't just ignore him.

Jude didn't do too much until one of his spies found out that he had been investigating several of the council members for fraud, theft and other petty crimes. It was during this time when he came across something that he had done. Jose had paid well for some cases to simply disappear but if the evidence that Jude Heartfilia managed to gather on him was released to the public he would be finished. His guild disbanded and he would be lucky if he ever saw daylight again.

There was one crime that would allow the authorities to dig deep into his business but that wasn't his only problem. He knew what Jude had uncovered. It was something that he had done many years ago and he believed that he had covered all his tracks.

Jose knew what would happen if the boy found out what he had done. That kid would slit his throat if given the opportunity if he found out what Jose had done. While he was sure that he could defeat him because he did have the magic power there was the fact that he didn't want to fight him.

Jose knew that he was a dangerous enemy to have. One who wouldn't mind waiting, plotting and planning before finally killing him because he would die at his hands for what he had done. He was not a forgiving man. It was after all his fault that he was like that.

Jude had dug through so much of stuff he just had to go and find that little piece of information. Jose honestly didn't think he would mind so much going to jail. He would obviously pull every trick in the book to ensure that he didn't up caught but if it came down to it. He would be able to survive going to jail. If the boy found out however Jose honestly didn't think he would live very long afterwards.

Jose had been planning an attack on Fairy Tail for a while now. He didn't think that it would be because that man would send the evidence to his daughter. Someone in the guild and he had no idea who she was. There were no Heartifila's in the guild. He already checked unless she had changed her name and since he didn't know anything about the girl he couldn't reach her.

The girl had been isolated when she lived with her father and so very little people knew what she looked like and those who did wouldn't talk to him. Jose had hit a wall in uncovering Jude's daughter and so he had been forced to turn his attention to the Duke himself. He hadn't wanted to attack such a high ranking noble. It was obvious that he wouldn't be able to hide this for long but he was sure that if his plans worked then he would get away with everything and prove the power of his guild.

The thugs that had beat Jude up found out that he was travelling to see his daughter. She had to have it. However Jose just didn't know how to find it and now his plan was failing. He would have to deal with Makarov even though he had hoped to avoid a fight with the older man. They would probably wipe out half the country from the map if two wizards of their caliber fought but he was sure that he would succeed. Jose had the advantage of youth. Makarov was an old man now.

Fairy Tail was done for without Laxus and Mystogan to save them. There were even rumors that the wizard saint Siegrain had joined the guild but he wasn't sure how true that rumor was. They still had to deal with the S-class mages Titania Erza and Demon Mirajane.

Then there were the rumors of the powerful mage called the 'Salamander.' He refused to allow Makarov to hold such power. The daughter of the Heartfilia family would bring that trash guild a lot of connections and power. He wouldn't allow it. He was going to wipe Fairy Tail off the map and take his place at the top of the food chain.

Jose sighed. He would have no choice but to take the next step and he had hoped that he wouldn't have to play this card. However the choice had been taken out of his hands. There wasn't much that he could do. He would never allow that evidence to see the light of day. He didn't care if he had to start a war to accomplish his goals. There were many on the council who didn't approve of Fairy Tail. He knew many who would just use this as an excuse to get rid of them.

Jose waited for Juvia and Sol to approach him and explain their failure. Juvia stepped forward to explain, "Jude Heartfilia was discharged from the hospital early this morning. Juvia went to see if there was anyone in the guild. The S-class mage Mirajane was there with others. Juvia couldn't see who they were. They are hiding him in their guild."

"Ready yourselves for transport, we move onto phase two." He ordered.

Gajeel frowned to himself. There was something off about everything that was happening here and he couldn't put his finger on what it was. He also couldn't get the image of a pink haired man declaring that his family made him strong and that if he couldn't understand something like that then he never knew happiness.

Gajeel grit his teeth in anger. He had known happiness and because he was weak he lost it. Then Jose saved him and taught him to be strong. The man had to be right. He just had to be because if he wasn't then everything that ever knew was a lie. Jose had built him up from nothing and if he had been proven wrong then he didn't know what he would do. Gajeel didn't even know who he was supposed to be if Jose was wrong. He couldn't be wrong. He just couldn't.

Lucy was awake and extremely sore when the guild members returned. She was immediately cuddled up to Natsu's chest as they described the battle. Lucy and Natsu shared a look when they saw that the master was still healthy and in excellent shape to fight. They hadn't lost their fighting spirit because their Master had not fallen which meant that the battle would go very differently.

Wendy healed a few more people and Fairy Tail did what they did best. They celebrated their win and then they got serious. Jose was still out there as well as three of the element four. That meant that this war was far from over and they still didn't know why Jose had started this war. It was one thing to fight for your family. It was the reason that Fairy Tail was fighting however they had no idea what Jose hoped to gain out of this mess.

Less than an hour later the entire guild shook. Natsu and Lucy shared a look as the ground beneath their feet began to tremble. They had planned for this and even though Natsu really didn't like it. He knew that there was very little choice here.

Erza was needed in battle and even though they had the master they didn't want him to be weakened by using a defense seal. It would take too much magic and put him out of the game too soon. They needed him. Natsu and Lucy quietly followed the guild as they scrambled outside to find the source of the trembling.

Fairy Tail gathered outside and watched in awe and shock and horror as Phantom Lords guild walked towards them. Makarov had no idea how Jose could possibly be powering a building so large or why he would want to turn his guild into a weapon.

Then again he never understood people and their greed for power. The giant building drew closer and all the Master could do was shake his head like a disappointed parent. He expected so much more from the man that held the title Wizard Saint.

"What a monstrosity." He muttered and several people nodded numbly looking at it.

Jose then started his speech on how this was his greatest weapon and that they couldn't win against it. He also finally answered the question that they had all been asking since the beginning of this drama. Honestly, Makarov couldn't believe how dramatic the youth of today had become. The man started an entire guild war over some hurt pride and one man. It made him question the mans sanity.

Jose wanted them to give him Jude Heartfilia and his daughter. He also expected Fairy Tail to become subordinates of Phantom Lord. Makarov just ignored most of what he was saying. He didn't have the time to try and understand crazy. Makarov was trying to measure the magic power that he could feel building and his own. Somewhere at the back of his mind he wondered how someone could like the sound of their own voice so much.

This was a weapon of great power. Makarov was not so prideful as to dismiss Jose's creation. It was extremely powerful. He would need to gather an equal number of magical power to defend his children. It would be difficult however not impossible. It would probably put him out of the battle for a little while. He would need some time to recover his power after activating a seal large enough and powerful enough to protect his family.

Once the man finally stopped talking Natsu sent a fire dragon roar towards the huge building. Gray hit the building with a freezing arrow and that opened the flood gates for every Fairy to hit them with something. Makarov once more sighed at his over eager brats and replied to Jose over the loud protests of his guild declaring that they would never surrender.

"You have your answer Jose, we are Fairy Tail and we will never surrender."

"Then die." Jose shouted back at them.

Makarov glowed gold in response to the Jupiter canon powering up. He was getting ready to cast a protection spell when something happened that shocked everyone in the two guilds.

Erza was just about to requip to hold the canon back with the master. If she added her defensive magic to his then she could hopefully ensure that he would be able to recover his power faster. She knew how much of magic it would take to hold of the cannon and if she tried to do it alone then she would end up badly injured. However with the Master at her side, she was sure they could manage it.

Lucy however already had a plan. She flew through the air like a bird and landed in front of Erza and Master Makarov. She took a moment to glare at Jose before taking a deep breath. Both Erza and Master Makarov could feel Lucy calling upon a lot of magic power.

Erza wanted to move to stop her or move her out of the way or even cry out a warning but Natsu grabbed her arm and grinned at her, "Watch."

Erza looked at him in shock. She couldn't believe that he wanted her to face something like this on her own. However he seemed so sure that she would be fine. All Erza could do was watch her friend. Her sister would face this monstrosity but if she was going to do this then she was going to watch her to the bitter end. She wouldn't turn away. She would have faith that they knew what they were doing.

"In this night and in this hour

I call upon thy ancient power

By the bounds of our contract

I beckon you to my side

Open four gates

Zodiac"

Aries appeared first in a column of golden light, followed by Sagittarius, Virgo and then Scorpio. Each spirit sent out a beam of golden energy that connected to Lucy and to each other. If you looked at them from above you would have seen that they stood in the formation of a five pointed star with Lucy as one of the points. Each beam of light connected each spirit to each other and to her. Her eyes shined in the same formation that her most powerful defensive spirits stood in and she cried out.

"Celestial shield."

A shield as large as the guild appeared in the form of a five pointed golden star. The Jupiter canon hit her shield head on. If she had cast her spell even a moment later she wouldn't have made it in time to defend against its power.

Lucy slid backwards before she braced herself better. She locked her knees into place and refusing to move another inch. She bit her lip so hard it bled and her nose leaked blood from the strain but Lucy grit her teeth against the pain and poured more magic into the shield.

She released her second origin. She had taken to keeping it hidden as Erza had done during the GMG and then exercising both magic containers during her meditations. She screamed from the strain. The sound getting lost as blood pounded in her ears.

She could feel her muscles strain and she knew that blood was leaking from her eyes and then the beam finally started to lose steam. Her shield began to crack and when Jupiter stopped she collapsed. Her spirits returning to the spirit world and her shield crumbled. Lucy hit her knees and just tried to breathe through the pain.

Natsu immediately had her back his arms and he kissed her head, "You did it. You held the Jupiter canon back."

Laxus and Erza stared open mouthed at the exhausted mage. Master Makarov raised an eyebrow. He was sure that he had just seen something that had never been seen in the world of magic until this moment. This little girl had more tricks up her sleeve than they thought. She was going to knock them all on their asses when this was over.

Makarov knew for certain as soon as he saw that shield that she would not be an ordinary stellar mage. She had just created history before their very eyes. There had never been another mage who had managed to create a spell using holder type magic.

There were mutterings from the rest of the guild before their cheers grew to be deafening. Everyone looked at the tiny blonde in awe and shock. She actually managed to protect them from something that powerful. She was strong enough to pull something like off and it was amazing.

Jose laughed, "In fifteen minutes I'll fire again and destroy you all."

Natsu laughed as well, "That's enough more than enough time to destroy the canon."

Master Makarov nodded, "Natsu, Gray, Elfman, destroy the canon."

The three boys took off towards the building when the master turned to the rest of the guild, "The rest of us will protect the guild. Mira Erza, get inside the Phantom's guild and destroy the element four."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – Phantom Lord Part 2

Erza and Mira immediately took to the air not even waiting to see what the boys were planning. They had their own orders and they were both sure that their nakama would be fine on their own. Natsu rolled his eyes at the two S-class mages who basically abandoned them and turned to Gray and Elfman, "You two find a way inside and try to find a power source. If I can't break it from the outside then you guys can take it down from the inside."

Natsu knew that they needed to take out the element four. There was also the fact that there were several huge lacrimas inside the enemy guild and he really didn't want to know what would happen if they didn't destroy them. Jose had used the lacrima to channel the power of the Jupiter canon. He also used the element four to power that magic giant thing.

Their individual elemental power had been joined together to create Abyss break. The lacrima had just channeled the power into the canon. He knew that they needed to break the lacrima and they would have to defeat the elemental four to ensure that they won. However Natsu was sure that if the lacrima hadn't been destroyed then it could possibly be used for a different purpose.

It was possible that the lacrimas could be used to power something else. There could be a different weapon that Jose hadn't been able to use before because they had destroyed it too quickly. He needed to concentrate on destroying the Jupiter canon. It was something that he was sure he would be able to do this time around then the only thing that Elfman and Gray would have to worry about was power source inside the guild.

Natsu hadn't even managed to dent the bloody thing the last time he went up against it. This time he was sure that would be able to break it. If he couldn't then he would pretty much have to move his family back onto a remote island and spend the rest of the year training. If he couldn't break this then everything that they had done would be for nothing because they still wouldn't be anywhere near ready to face Alvarez.

Gray nodded to Natsu to show that he agreed with his plan. Gray and Elfman immediately took to the sea. Gray made them a boat and they paddled towards the huge ass building. Gray huffed at the fact that Erza and Mira beat them to the enemy building.

Mira could have snatched both of them up in one of her claws and flew them to the bloody building. Elfman simply gave Gray a deadpanned look when he noticed that he was pouting. Not that Gray would ever admit that he was pouting.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Gray.

"How are we supposed to get inside that building?" asked Elfman.

He stared at the brick building ignoring the fact that his sister had already landed on the roof of Phantoms guild. Elfman almost felt sorry for them. Titania Erza and Demon Mirajane working as a team, a bloody terrifying thought.

Gray simply smiled a little manically making Elfman wonder if any of the people in their guild were sane. Then Gray froze the boat creating a mountain of ice that brought their little rowboat up to a window where they could see many different phantom mages staring at them in shock.

A single moment later Elfman decided that sanity was overrated and probably boring. He joined Gray in smiling like a manic as he changed into a beast soul and shattered the window by jumping through the glass. Elfman craved out a path of destruction through the guild. Gray was right behind him, laughing and phantom mages were being sent out through the hole that they created once more.

Gray's laughter reached the others who were protecting the guild on the shore. Many people didn't know whether they should be sighing in resignation at the craziness of their guild mates or be mad that they were missing out on the beat down that the phantom mages were getting.

There was a huge explosion and the sound rattled several of the fairies on the shore who were fighting against Jose's shades. Some stared at the guild in shock wondering if it really was such a good idea to send Erza and Mira in there together. Somehow Gray and Elfman managed to blow a hole in the guild already. It had barely been five minutes since they got their orders.

Master Makarov resisted the urge to sigh or face-palm in resignation at the all-out destruction that his brats were causing. Then again it was kind of his fault because he was the one who allowed them to let loose. Well, the council would be throwing a bitch fit either way. He might as well let them have their fun and destroy phantom completely.

Natsu stared up at the canon after the explosion that he was sure that Elfman and Gray caused and he resisted the urge to sigh. They were right at the bottom of the guild. It would take them some time to find the lacrimas that they needed to destroy.

When Phantom attacked the first time he had been unable to dent that bloody canon no matter what he did. He ended up inside the guild fighting a member of element four that tried to control his flames. He really hated that guy even though he couldn't remember his name.

However all thoughts of the past aside he wanted to know how much damage he could do to something that big and powerful. He knew he had the power to deal with that canon and he was determined to see it destroyed by his own hand.

Natsu needed to see the results of all his training. Lucy had never been able to stand against Gajeel and now she could. Natsu wanted to see the canon destroyed by his own hand because he had been unable to do so in another life.

Happy flew Natsu upwards and he stopped when Natsu was finally above the canon. The two hovered in the air as they stared at their enemy. Natsu took a deep breath for a few minutes while he gathered his magic. Lucy didn't know what type of magical training he had done.

She trained with her spirits because they were exploring her magic. Natsu did his magic training in a separate part of the forest so if he lost control she wouldn't get hurt. Now the guild was going to see how far he really had come.

His blood burned as he gathered his magic. He couldn't help the blood thirsty smile that had crossed his face with the knowledge that he could finally test himself. Natsu had better control over his fire but there were several other attacks that he had worked on.

Things that he knew he could do in theory but never managed to actually try and master the abilities that the picked up. He also knew that once he released his true power no one would be giving him any peace. He had been hiding how powerful he had become for a long time now. He really didn't want to think about how he was supposed to explain his big power-up.

God Serena had several dragon lacrimas implanted in his body which allowed him to use different types of dragon slayer magic. That got him thinking, during his fight with Laxus he managed to absorb his lightening and become the Lightening Flame Dragon. During his fight with Zancrow on Tenrou Island he also absorbed his magic which allowed him to become the Fire Dragon God.

However Natsu never lost the ability to use that magic. He trained until he could use lightening. He would never be on the same level as Laxus because even though lightening was a form of fire it was not his primary weapon. He was able to use it well. He also trained so that he could use black flames of the Fire God Slayer as well. He had access to their abilities.

Natsu had to thank the God Serena for showing him that dragon slayers could use more than one type of dragon slaying magic. Well, he would thank the bastard after kicking his ass for betraying them. Natsu wasn't crazy enough to try and get lacrima implanted in his body. That procedure was dangerous because it was possible that the lacrima wouldn't take and it could kill the host.

That didn't mean that he would ignore the fact that there were different types of flames out there. If he put in enough time and effort he could use those flames as well making him more powerful.

Natsu stared at the Jupiter canon for a moment longer remembering everything that happened the first time they attacked. He remembered Levy, Jet, Droy, Gramps and then Erza, all of whom were injured and left on the brink of death.

He remembered how different everything was now and that it was Lucy who had been knocked out of the game. She managed to create a spell strong enough to hold off Jupiter and now it was his turn. He couldn't go all out against Erza or Mystogan or Lucy. He didn't want to hurt them but these were his enemies and he burned his enemies to ash.

This canon was the reason why Lucy got hurt so he was going to do what he always did when someone or something hurt Lucy. He was going to destroy whatever was responsible.

On the ground Fairy Tail was crushing the shades that Jose had sent out. Suddenly Makarov and Laxus stopped fighting ignoring the protests and shouts of shock that came from their guild members. The two men let their family protect them as they stared up at the pink haired dragon slayer.

His magic power had very suddenly started to rise to levels that neither of them knew he could reach. Laxus felt his jaw drop when he realized that Natsu had been masking his power. Natsu was hiding his power. His power levels should have been rising due the fact that Natsu was still growing. He had not reached his peak yet. His power levels had grown, they knew it and it was mostly put down to the fact that he was still growing but not this much.

Natsu was still training and exploring his magic. It made sense that his power would grow as he aged but this magic was almost impossible. It should have taken him years to rise to level. Hell it should have taken him years to learn how to mask his power.

"Fire Dragon God's roar." He shouted and Master Makarov nearly toppled over in shock.

The amount of magic power he felt from Natsu should have been possible for another decade at the very least. Laxus watched in shock as he saw a type of flame that Natsu had produced. He had never seen this before not from Natsu or any other type of mage.

Black fire wrapped in Natsu's normal fire poured from his mouth. Rings of black and red fire poured from his mouth and the magic pressure had nearly toppled every mage on their feet. Many of the Fairy Tail mages stopped fighting and stared at him.

This heat was incredibly powerful and almost impossible. They could feel the heat of his fire all the way on the ground, hundreds of feet below him and miles away from the canon. Natsu wasn't letting up the attack anytime soon. The fire poured outwards for a full two minutes before the attack finally stopped and the magic that he created started to dissipate.

Jose stared at the pink haired man that had recently become known as the Salamander. He narrowed his eyes as he stared at him. A mage of that power not in his guild was a travesty. He wouldn't stand for it. He couldn't allow Makarov to keep such a powerful gem in his trash guild.

However recruitment would come later. For now he was trying to understand how a single dragon roar could have burned the canon away. Jupiter was one of his strongest weapons and a single mage destroyed the canon with one attack. It shouldn't have been possible.

He knew the limits of a dragon slayers power. He had trained Gajeel after all. It was why he was so confident that they would win against Fairy Tail's dragon slayer. They were weak. The fairies depended on their friends to protect them. Jose was sure that Gajeel would be able to beat him but looking at this disaster he wondered how the hell he hadn't heard about this mage before this.

The stories of the Salamander must have been severely understated for them to miss this amount of power. They spoke of his destructive ability however he had never seen or heard of anything like this.

The canon was made out of the toughest metals he could find. It was powered by magic and that boy had melted the canon. He didn't even know that fire mage could reach a temperature high enough to do something like that. He had never heard of mage being powerful enough to keep standing after releasing that amount of magic power.

Lucy smiled to herself inside the guild. She could hear the gasps and the mutterings as Wendy healed her. She tried not to laugh because it hurt to laugh. She always knew that Natsu was taking his training seriously and that he was holding back. She knew that he was hiding his magic power.

There would be a lot of questions on how he got so powerful overnight. He had been hoping that he could slowly show how powerful he had become. The guild members would have thought it was because of all the training he had been doing. Lucy knew that if she was going to let loose and test herself against Phantom then he would as well.

Lucy was proud that he managed to learn how to access the powers that he absorbed from his opponents. He managed to use it almost as well as his own magic. Natsu would unlikely be able to use it as well as the people that got the ability from. Laxus used lightening as his primary magic. It was instinctive to him in a way that Natsu would never be able to learn. However that didn't mean that the power couldn't be extremely useful.

Wendy was watching her father through the guild window while her mother rested. She needed to gain some energy back after using one of her most powerful spells however Wendy was in awe. She never saw her father like this. It took her a moment to realize that he was fighting seriously. He was actually trying and not just play fighting with her and he was powerful.

Wendy watched as his roar ended and there was nothing left of the canon. There was a melted stub and then Happy dodged when a fireball came hurtling towards them. There was someone attacking Natsu from inside the guild.

Happy let Natsu go dropping him on the melted stub of the canon and flying towards safety. Natsu jumped upwards, fire propelling him upwards. Natsu punched whoever was trying to shoot Happy down. Wendy winced at the sheer amount of destruction that her father was capable of when he was pushed. He went to deal with the guy who was boasting about the fact that he could control flames.

No one knew his name but they did know he was one of the element four. He was supposedly and S-class mage but he wasn't all that powerful. The flame guy that no one really cared about and when Natsu tossed him out the window Wendy tried not to cheer. The flame guy landed in the cold sea water below. That fight hadn't even lasted more than two minutes and she was pretty sure that the only thing the mage managed to do was annoy her father.

Wendy bit her lip. She watched her mother so bravely shield the entire guild even though she had been so hurt, tired and scared. Then she watched her father unleash a whole lot of hurt on their enemies and she wondered.

Was it right for her to stay hidden like this? She was a dragon slayer as well. Even though she was young, even though she didn't like to fight she couldn't help but wonder if she should be out there as well. She was a Fairy Tail mage as well. She should be out there helping her guild. She couldn't help the fact that she was scared and that she didn't want to fight. In this moment her mother needed healing more than the others outside needed another fighter.

Inside the Phantom guild Elfman and Gray had destroyed nearly all the mages that they had come across. They were looking for the source of the power of the canon when they heard the cheers and realized that Natsu probably already broke it.

They had only been inside the guild for about seven minutes and he already broke the damn thing. They were running around looking for either someone to fight or whatever powered the guild.

Gray and Elfman shared a look when they heard Jose screaming about impossibilities. Then he shouted out something about how the canon was only one of the cards that he had hidden up his sleeve. The building started shaking, and then it was moving. Gray looked out a window and saw that the guild had hands and he groaned.

He should have expected something as insane as this. If the bloody thing could walk then it was only plausible that it had hands as well. For what purpose he had no bloody idea. This entire monstrosity was a mechanical mage of some type and it was capable of using magic. It was currently writing something in glowing orange letters.

Gray was forced to abandon all thoughts about the craziness of their enemy when he realized that while the building started growing arms, he had been separated from Elfman and it was raining. He wasn't completely sure how he got outside the guild but he assumed that he crashed through a window at some point. The view from out here gave him the perfect opportunity to see one of the giants hands writing in the air in glowing orange letters.

It looked kind of like a magic circle. What type of magic circle he had no idea. Magical theory was not his strong point. He knew enough to recognize the magic circle but since this was Jose and Jose was an asshole on a good day. It was likely that whatever this thing was doing would be bad.

Gray was forced to turn his attention from the magic circle to staring at a blue haired woman who called herself Juvia. She was one of the element four. He also thought that she was kind of nuts after listening to her for more than three minutes.

It didn't take long for the water and ice mage to start an intense fight while he was once again forced to wonder whether or not this woman was crazy. He didn't understand anything that she said or did.

First she had tried to leave without fighting him. Then she got angry and attacked him with her water lock. Gray had to freeze the water before he drowned and shattered the ice from within.

He wasn't sure if that was a feint or not but after he managed to break out the crazy woman kept fighting him or flirting with him. He wasn't sure anymore. He just knew that he had to win this and he did not mean to grab her boob. It was an accident.

The crazy woman stopped whatever it was that she was doing and then she started talking about the rain and he couldn't help but remark, "I don't see any problems with the rain. The cold never really bothered me after all I am an ice mage."

He also had no idea why the woman looked so happy once he managed to knock her out. He was just done with this craziness and decided to leave her there and find Elfman. Hopefully he was having more luck finding and defeating the element four than he was having.

Master Makarov stared in horror as the giant mechanic hand started creating a magic circle. After Jose announced that even though they had destroyed the Jupiter canon it didn't meant that they had won Makarov wondered if he ever shut up. Then he paled as he realized the full consequences of this kind of magic. He knew that Jose was crazy but this was pure insanity.

"Gramps what is that?" asked Laxus and Makarov's eyes hardened.

"Its called Abyss Break. A type of magic that is created by combining the power of the four elements. It creates death magic. A single high powered beam that will kill everything it touches. It is forbidden magic that had been outlawed by the council centuries ago."

He amplified his voice and called out, "Destroy the guild. Leave no trace of it behind."

As a guild master and a member of the ten wizard saints he could not allow magic like this to exist. Death magic was forbidden magic and highly restricted. To think that Jose would try and use it against an entire city was plain insane. He was now honour bound to destroy this magic leaving no trace of it so that some idiot could not stumble across it and get corrupted by it.

Jose sneered down at the guild. They all attempted to overwhelm the shade army he had created so that they could try and stop the spell that was being written. He waved his hand and created three spheres of black energy. He needed to keep Makarov busy while the magic circle was being cast.

The members on the ground defending the town and their guild suddenly cried out as they were hit by black spheres with fists that were immune to their magic. Laxus and his team were dealing with one sphere. Makarov had one all to himself while the rest of the guild was trying to stop the black sphere from crushing the guild. The guild couldn't collapse because it was currently housing Lucy, her father, her daughter and Team Shadowgear. They would be crushed if the building went down.

Mirajane and Erza were already inside the enemy building when they heard the masters words ordering the complete destruction of the guild. They had not come across anyone or anything that they could break until they heard those orders. They also knew that Natsu managed to somehow melt the Jupiter canon and that Jose was pissed about that. Mira couldn't help but chuckle at the anger in Jose's voice as he created the magic circle.

The two girls rivalry had calmed down a bit since Mira returned to the guild. Once they had their orders from the master they both split up. While Elfman and Gray decided to trash the first floor of the guild Erza and Mira went through the roof of the guild. They hadn't come across anyone until they reached the center of the guild.

Mira found Aria and honestly Erza she felt a little sorry for the large man. He one who had tried to steal the masters magic and the two battled. Well it was more like she changed into her Satan Soul and just beat him up. Mira batted his attacks away like they were paper and showing no mercy. Every time he did something with his magic Mira was able to counter it or shield against it.

It didn't matter that his attacks were invisible or that he had removed his blindfold. Mira was had more magic power than he did. She showed no mercy towards the monster that dared hurt their parent. She took him out in three punches and with a brutal tail flick of her tail she sent him crashing through five floors.

His energy attacks were countered by her darkness magic. At one point he tried to hide himself in the airspace that he could manipulate and it didn't really matter to her. Mira could sense his movements. It didn't take her long to render the ugly pathetic man unconscious.

Erza found Jose who was watching as Mira and Aria fought. She didn't know if she could take him on but thanks to Lucy and the rest of her guild mates she hadn't fought anyone yet. She was in peak condition to dance with the devil himself. She went after him with fire in her eyes and absolutely no mercy. She would never forgive what he had done to the guild, to her friends or her family. She was going to tear him to pieces.

Wendy felt the building shake as the black mass outside hit her guild. She stared at her mother who was struggling to her feet. Her mouth opened to tell her to get back to bed before she pulled her stiches.

"We have to get out of here Wendy." She whispered and Wendy couldn't help it when tears gathered in her eyes.

"Its dangerous outside mama." She replied.

They couldn't go outside. The guild was in the middle of a war. They would get caught in the crossfire and Lucy caressed her cheek.

"Its even more dangerous in here. If the building goes down we'll be crushed. Besides I think I gathered enough magic to open one more gate for a few minutes, I can help."

Wendy didn't like to fight but when she helped her mother outside and saw the angry look in her eyes she understood. Back when Natsu first started to teach her how to fight she told them that she didn't like to fight and Lucy smiled and kissed the top of her head.

Mama told her, "Magic isn't for hurting people Wendy. We're not teaching you how to fight to hurt people but to protect them. When your family is in danger you have to protect them. You have to fight so that you don't lose anyone that you care for."

Wendy didn't understand how people could do this. How they could hurt and take from other people without care but at the same time she understood why she had to fight now. It wasn't that her parents weren't afraid because they were. They were just more afraid of what would happen if they lost.

Being brave doesn't mean that you aren't afraid. Its about not letting your fear rule your actions. Sometimes you have to fight or else the people around you would keep taking from you unless you stopped them.

Cana saw Lucy and shouted out, "Lucy get away from here."

Laxus and Makarov stared at the blonde woman who was glaring at the black spheres. There was a flash of golden light and she requipped a key into her hands. Freed may or may not have felt his jaw drop. No one could believe that she was seriously thinking about opening another gate in her position right now. She had already done more than enough. Lucy didn't need to be fighting out here right now.

"Open gate of the Snake Charmer, Ophiuchus."

Makarov didn't know how to describe the spirit she summoned but it definitely wasn't a normal snake. It was snake like which was part metal and part organic. The spirits red eyes took in the battle and flicked its tongue towards Lucy.

"The black spheres please."

The snake turned its large head and it moved with snake like agility when it slammed into the black sphere in front of the guild. It disappeared in a poof of black smoke and the snake looked oddly smug. Lucy couldn't keep the gate open any longer.

She nodded her head and the spirit returned to the spirit world. However before it left, it flicked its tail and sent another sphere flying out towards the ocean. It didn't disappear but it buy them a little time to recover.

Wendy turned towards Phantom's guild and narrowed her eyes. Everyone was fighting not just to protect her mother but for each other. She couldn't stand on the sidelines anymore. Her father trained her to be in the thick of the battle and she was not going to let him down.

Master said to destroy the guild. It seemed like their guild mates were destroying element four but the magic circle was still forming, slowly. If she had to guess then there was only one person of the element four remaining.

Wendy straightened her back and gathered the wind to herself. She flew through the crowd. Most of the guild was fighting the two remaining spheres so she landed in the water. She stood in front of the magic circle just as the mechanical hands stopped moving.

Natsu and the others managed to defeat element four which meant that the giant couldn't be powered anymore. However Master Makarov said to destroy the guild so that's what she was about to do. If any part of the guild remained then it was possible that someone could try and reconstruct the building and figure out how to use it as a weapon.

Wendy was a dragon slayer. There was nothing on this Earth that was more powerful than a dragon. She was about to unleash all the anger and rage that she felt towards the people who hurt her family. She was going to crush them and then they would never try and take anything or anyone from her ever again. Wendy was ready to protect her family. She didn't need to stand at the back of the crowd use support magic. She didn't need to heal the injuries after the battle. She could stand here in the midst of battle and protect her family.

Laxus noticed the little blue haired girl land in front of the guild. He waited wanting to see what she was about to do because he knew it was going to be something big. It would be the beginning of her journey. It would also probably be the beginning of the stories of the 'Daughter of the Salamander'. It was something that would go down in their history books.

Wendy gathered the wind inside the ocean that she was standing in. He watched as the water rose in response to her wind magic. She was creating a water cyclone all on her own. She was freaking ten years old and she was doing something that most mages would take years of practice to figure out. She was going to be a Queen. He could already see it. In a couple of years she would be the Queen of Sky.

Erza would always be the Titania, the Queen of the Fairies. Wendy, she was going to rule the sky and he almost pitied the moron that tried to stand in her way. He watched her carefully judging the amount of water and wind she managed to gather and her magic levels.

It was going to pack a punch but it wouldn't be strong enough. She was still too young to gather enough power so he turned into lightening and dropped down in front of her. He could see the sweat dropping from her temple as she poured her energy into creating the cyclone and he smiled at her.

She had been nearly there so he didn't see the point in leaving it all up to her. All she needed was just a little bit more juice and he was more than willing to give her some help.

Wendy watched as Laxus placed a large hand on her head. His lightening magic circled all around her and fused into the water. He managed to do a unison raid with her by simply patting her on the head. Their magic merged as easily as breathing.

Jose watched the little girl with narrowed eyes. He wrapped his shadows around Erza's ankle and swung her through several concrete pillars. He didn't have the time to deal with the pesky fly right now. She was good. It was a shame that Makarov had managed to find her before he did.

Her magic power wasn't half bad and her speed was way above average but she wasn't ready yet. He flicked her through a wall and turned his attention back to the little blue haired girl who had been joined by Makarov's grandson.

"Who is that?" he cried out and Erza glanced outside as well.

"That's Wendy Dragneel." She replied with a grin.

At the narrowing of his eyes she continued, "She is the daughter of the woman that blocked your canon and the man that destroyed it. She is the daughter of Natsu and Lucy Dragneel, the Sky Dragon Slayer.

Jose screamed in rage at the very thought of Makarov having two dragon slayers. He already had an S-class mage that could keep up with him and a woman that was powerful enough to block Jupiters ray.

Phantom was meant to be on the top. They were supposed to be a trash guild. The Titania was better than he expected. She was definitely on a level above the norm but she wasn't ready to be a wizard saint either. A unison raid should not have been possible. The fact that it was Makarov's grandson who was doing it made things worse then he heard them cry out, "Thunder Dragons Storm cyclone."

Water, wind and lightening all hurled towards them at the speeds that should have been impossible and he cursed. Their power rattled the entire guild as it closed in on them. The giants hands were destroyed and the entire building was crumbling around him. His S-class wizards were out for the count and then he heard a grumbling and the roof caved in.

Pink and black clashed as Gajeel desperately tried to do everything possible to even put a dent in the other dragon slayer. Natsu was giving no fucks as he batted away his assaults and broke his iron scales.

"You have a long way to go before you can face me Gajeel." Declared Natsu.

Erza watched in awe and shock as Natsu encased himself in fire and lightening and went after Gajeel with vengeance. She wasn't sure how long Natsu had been fighting the other dragon slayer but he didn't have a single scratch on him while Gajeel looked like someone had dragged him through hell by his hair.

His clothes were ripped to pieces. His skin could be seen in patches as his iron scales shattered against Natsu's fists and he was bleeding everywhere. Natsu blocked his attacks with his bare hands, caught what seemed to be metal poles with one hand.

Natsu was moving so fast that Gajeel couldn't keep up. It didn't last long for him to hit his knees before Natsu blasted him with lightening again. The blast of fire and lightening shattered all his scales and rendered him unconscious.

Jose moved before anyone could remember that he was still in the room. In the middle of Gajeel's fight with Natsu, Jose sent hundreds of shadows to wrap themselves around Erza.

Erza gasped for breath as the shadows tightened around her neck. She struggled and tried to call for her swords. Natsu narrowed his eyes, gathering magic to himself as he stared at Jose with an intense hatred.

"If I can't beat Makarov then I'll tear one of his precious children to pieces." He declared.

He sounded a little insane. He was also desperate to do something-anything that would scar that old man forever. It was well-known how much Makarov cared for the members of his guild and the death of one of his children, of the Titania herself would forever scar the old man.

Before Natsu could move there was a flash of light. Jose found himself staring into the eyes of a blue haired man with a red tattoo over his eye who managed to burn his magic away.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" asked Siegrain with a wicked look in his eyes.

Natsu just grinned at him, "Where were you guys?" he asked completely ignoring Jose and the dumb stuck look on Jose's face.

Siegrain gestured for them to look outside and watched as Jose paled when he saw another blue haired man with a red tattoo over his eye with a couple of staffs on his back. Mystogan tossed his hand up and hundreds of flags with the Phantom Lord symbol littered the ground.

"We took care of the rest." Said Siegrain with a shrug.

"You think you can take me on boy?" cried Jose.

In response to his question Siegrain allowed his eyes to glow gold in a manner scarily similar to Makarov, "Don't forget that I held the same title as you. I chose to leave it behind unlike you who will be stripped of your title and left in disgrace."

Jose sent hundreds of shadows towards everyone in the room trying to hit someone not caring who he managed take out anymore. It was probably his last desperate attempt to do something since nothing else worked. Siegrain encased himself in his own magic and went after Jose with a vengeance.

If they thought that the placed was trashed before then it was nothing compared to the damage that Siegrain and Jose had managed to do while they battled. High powered beams of light destroyed shadows and he moved so quickly that Jose couldn't keep up. Erza nearly smiled at the look of frustration on Jose's face as he couldn't manage to even land one hit on the other younger man.

Natsu on the other hand simply face palmed and turned to Elfman. He heard the sound of battle and wandered towards them after he managed to defeat Sol.

"Maybe we should leave." Muttered Elfman.

Mira nodded her head and decided that it was probably best for their health if they left Siegrain to deal with Jose before they got in the way of the fight. Mira resisted the urge to wince when Siegrain hit Jose with a high powered beam of light that left a very nasty looking burn on his chest. The other man just shouted out something about killing them all and suddenly it got very cold.

Siegrain looked pissed as the shadows tried to devour the people in the room and he finally had enough. He hit Jose with Grand Chariot and Jose's scream was heard all the way to the shore of Fairy Tail. Jose fell unconscious without much fuss afterwards and his shades disappeared as well.

By the time everyone gathered back on the shore of Fairy Tail the guild was already cheering and patting each other on the back when a voice broke up their mini party.

"Everyone freeze, you're all under arrest." Cried a rune knight.

Natsu face palmed, he forgot that this happened.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Natsu stood on the shore and looked around and noticed that the damage was even worse this time around. He also ignored the rune knights that were trying and failing to corral his guild mates. They wanted to take statements and interrogate them which would last for another week or so and he groaned silently to himself. He remembered how unending and pointless their questions had been the first time around.

There was no fucking way that after everything that just happened he was going to sit through another one of the councils power plays. He caught Lucy's eye and raised an eyebrow hoping that his wife would have some sort of plan for this. Just because he forgot about the rune knights doesn't mean that she forgot about them.

The unison raid that Wendy and Laxus created had destroyed Phantoms guild. The arms and legs of the building had been reduced to ash and several huge chunks of the building were currently floating away in the ocean.

The main part of the building was largely intact but the rest of it was fried. He could even see black smoke from the several fires that had caught inside the guild. All in all it looked like an empty husk and it was bloody ugly. He hoped that they got rid of the charred pieces soon. It was stinking up their property.

Natsu was secretly glowing with pride at the amount of damage his little girl was capable of dishing out. There was no way he was going to let Lucy know that. She would kick his ass if he encouraged Wendy to break things but the fact was that Wendy never attempted something like this before. She had just stepped up onto a whole new level way before he thought she would.

There were also several Phantom mages who were swimming to shore or floating on the broken debris. He wondered for a moment what happened to the phantom mages the first time and where they went when the rune knights appeared to terrorize them. All Fairy Tail mages had been questioned but he didn't remember a single phantom mage being brought in for questioning even though they had eventually ruled in their favor.

Fairy Tail's guild wasn't completely crushed. The metal poles and the damage it took when Jose's black spheres decided to pound on a building would need to be repaired. Actually it would probably be better to tear it down and rebuild it. There was no question about that. The land around them was utterly wrecked as well. It seemed that the guild was always destined for a makeover.

Lucy ran up to him, ignoring the rune knights for the moment and kissed him as soon as she saw him. The couple celebrated their win and in that moment they also celebrated how differently everything had turned out.

Their celebration was interrupted when Wendy moved towards them and one of the knights caught her by the arm roughly. The young girl cried out in surprise as the knights rough grip bruised her arms. Carla immediately started clawing at the man trying to get him to release her friend.

Natsu roared. It was the sound that an animal would make when they were warning someone to back the fuck off before the animal decided to eat them and the knight froze. Well, technically everyone froze in place not wanting to anger the mage. The knights stopped trying to coral the fairies who had been checking on their guild mates. They had injured friends to see too and no one cared what the rune knights wanted them to do.

They were ignoring everything that they were told when they heard Natsu roar and it was a sound so terrifying and foreign coming from the soft hearted young man that they all knew that everyone paused.

Lucy stepped towards him and there was a bright glow around her leaving her in a fancy pink dress with lace and frills. None of them had ever seen her wear before except for a few people who had seen the picture of her and Natsu in their home.

Her hair had even been done up in a fancy up-do and several people could see the shiny beads that were loped through her hair. She finally looked like the Lady that she claimed to be. For the first time they saw Lucy look like the noble rich woman she had been born to be. It was a little scary seeing the cold dead look in her once warm brown eyes.

"Bring me your superior." She ordered and her voice wasn't angry, she was just cold.

Lucy knew that her words would be taken as an order and not as a request. The knights were trained to be able to spot nobility and right now Lucy Dragneel carried herself better than a bloody queen. She expected every command to be met swiftly. The knight holding Wendy didn't let go of her and to be honest Lucy had not demanded her daughters release. She just asked for their superior.

There was silence until a different person stepped forward to speak with her. A thin, tall man with brown eyes and brown hair stepped forward and his eyes widened when he saw her. He recognized her and Natsu took a step closer to her seeing the look of lust in his eyes when he looked upon his wife. Lucy's smile turned vicious and she met his eyes. She resisted the urge to cover herself from his disgusting gaze but at the same time she knew that she had this won the moment he stepped forward.

"Baron Sawyer, a pleasure to see you again."

Cana nearly winced from the cold tone of her friends voice. There was no warmth there. Everyone was pretty sure that Lucy would have preferred to drown the lanky looking man in the ocean rather than have a conversation with him but no one could really understand why.

This man was not a mage. He wasn't very threatening either. He was just disgusting every woman could see the leer in his eyes as he looked at Lucy but he was not a threat.

Lisanna leaned a little closer to her guild mates, "She called him a Baron. That means he holds a title. He may not be powerful magically but he is nobility. That means he has money and some say in the council."

Several people scrowled. They worked for the wealthy sometimes but they didn't belong in that world and they all knew it. Politics and mages didn't go well together.

The man swallowed roughly, "A pleasure Lady Heartfilia, what are you doing here?"

Lucy raised a single eyebrow, "Lady Dragneel, Baron Sawyer. I know my father informed you that I had chosen a husband. I will thank you for addressing me correctly. I am here because I joined the guild with my husband and daughter. I will remind your men not to touch my daughter unless they wish for me to remove their arms."

"The girl is not your blood Lucy-sama." He responded with venom coating his words.

His own hand moving towards Wendy while refusing to utter her married name. Lucy narrowed her eyes as he spoke. She knew what he had done by refusing to acknowledge her married name he sought to undermine her.

It was a simple thing done in their circles ignoring ones preferences to try and show dominance over a situation. It was to try and prove that one person does not have control over another. These petty little word games and backstabbing was just another reason why she never wanted to marry a pompous rich jerk. The politics of this world turned her stomach.

Lucy's eyes hardened visibly and the Baron Sawyer nearly took a step back, "If she wished it I would name her my heiress and have her inherit my title." She replied.

The man swallowed thickly not able to give a reply to her statement. Lucy gave him a bored look, "Enough games Sawyer, we both know that Fairy Tail has broken no laws."

Lucy was just so done with his theatrics and his petty little games. She was had fought a dragon slayer, got her ass pinned to a tree, shielded against a canon that could have wiped out Magnolia. Then she opened another zodiac gate which utterly drained her.

Now she was dealing with this idiot. She was tired and sore. All Lucy wanted to do was soak in her bath with her husband. She was just done with this.

The man stepped towards her threateningly, unhanding Wendy who scurried to her fathers side. Natsu took a step closer to her while Laxus, Siegrain and Mystogan all surrounded the man from all directions. They didn't like how the way the man was speaking to their guild mate.

The S-class mages may not know much about politics and whatever was going on between Lucy and the rich guy but it wasn't hard to see that he was carrying a torch for Lucy. She didn't care for him so if he threatened her again they were going to turn him into ash.

They all had their own questions for the couple and right now this was getting in their way of talking to Natsu about his major power up and those weird flames.

"Fairy Tail took part in starting a guild war." He replied ignoring the mages around him even though he could feel the magic in the air slowly rising and the tension around them suddenly increased.

Lucy on the other hand was tired of all the testosterone in the air and she laughed startling them all. It wasn't her usual laugh full of warmth. It was a cold almost mocking sound that sent shivers up the spines of everyone who heard it.

"Fairy Tail moved in the defense of Duke Jude Heartfilia. His Grace sent them evidence of a crime in which Phantom Lord destroyed themselves in an effort to get said evidence back." She replied.

Sawyers eyes hardened. This little bitch was supposed to his wife. The girl had been borne to a title ahead of his family if she had wed him he could have claimed her title and wealth for himself. The money came from her father but her mother had a bloodline of nobility.

Their child would have had some of the bluest blood aside from the royal family. His family had ties to the throne with enough support he could have had his child sitting on the throne. Then this bitch went and married some mage that no one even knew and destroyed all his plans.

He would have been untouchable using both their families connections. Their combined wealth would have made the Kings treasury look like a child's allowance. He had great plans for their future. When he sent word that he wished for her hand her father replied to him saying that she was already married.

He would destroy her for denying him especially since he had made his intentions known as soon as she turned fourteen. She had been promised to him, even though her father never signed the contract. They had an agreement of which all she had to do was show up at the wedding.

"You have no proof." He replied, wanting to take everything from her as she had done to him. Then Jude walked towards his daughter and Sawyer knew he was done for. He hadn't actually believed the rumors that her father had allowed her marriage to a nobody. He thought for sure she had been disowned for it.

"Then you will take this at my word Baron Sawyer. The rune knights will have to arrest Jose Porla for murder and I do have the evidence."

Jude was led away by one of the rune knight captains so that they could see the evidence and get his statement. When Sawyer took another step towards Lucy, she turned to him with murder in her eyes. She was done, completely and utterly done with today.

"Take one more step and I will bury you alive Sawyer. I will air every bit of dirty laundry you have in your closet. I will tear through everything that I can find and we both know that your business isn't all legal. I will find the evidence to leave you with nothing."

Lucy took another step forward while he moved backwards, " Do not forget who I am and do not forget your place. I am just as ruthless as my father and I am more than willing to remind you of where you belong. You are nothing to me but an insignificant little boy who is throwing a temper tantrum because I said no. Now think very carefully about your next move because if you move against my family I will end you."

The man paled, nodded and stepped away from her. Once he was gone she glowed again and was dressed normally. Several members of Fairy Tail stepped closer to her with questioning looks on their faces only to be met with an extremely tired young woman who was completely done with the bullshit that they all had to deal with in the past two days.

"That was exhausting." She muttered as she rubbed her temples.

"What was that?" asked Laxus and Lucy smiled at him sadly.

"That was politics. Two wealthy titled families who have a grudge against each other fighting for the top spot and I won."

"But how?" asked Laxus and Lucy shrugged.

"My father holds a title more powerful than he does even though I took Natsu's name when we married I am still my fathers heiress. I was not disowned for marrying someone without a title as such I am technically still a Duchess."

Natsu rolled his eyes and Lucy smiled at him as she spoke, "My children will still have the option of taking my title and the business or leading the life of a mage. The Magic Council relies on nobility for funding. The royal family gives them a grant but it isn't enough. The Nobility of Fiore has a say in the happenings of the magic council. Basically we just compared how much power and wealth we have and which family would incur the most damage if he overstepped and I won."

Laxus narrowed his eyes at her, not understanding the blonde woman at all, "Why would you give all that up for the life of a mage?"

Lucy simply patted Wendy on the head and replied, "Money isn't everything. Things with my father may be better now but it wasn't always like this. I wished for a family and a life of adventures and love. I married Natsu because he loved me, not my money, title or anything that I could provide for him. He loved me for the person I am because I made him happy."

Natsu had enough of all the people and the fighting and the questions. Since the rune knights left with Lucy's father he decided it was time to go home. They could rebuild the guild and see to everything else later. Right now he wanted to take his wife and his daughter home and sleep.

"Alright then, we'll see you guys later. We're going home. Carla, Happy lets go."

Laxus was about to say something else when Natsu threw Lucy over his shoulder and stared him with a cold look in his eyes, "We're going home."

Laxus raised in his hands in surrender. He couldn't help but want to understand what happened between Lucy and the Sawyer guy. He knew that she would explain if he asked but it seemed like Natsu had enough of drama for today and he just wanted to go home.

Laxus also had a lot of questions for the pink haired man since he was now able to use his element as well. However he could understand the fact that everyone was tired and no one wanted to deal with this anymore. It was time to just go home. Their questions could wait for tomorrow.

Siegrain couldn't help but chuckle at the lost look on the faces of many of the Fairy Tail mages. There were not many mages in the world who understood how politics worked. The nobility and upper society were to them, just people who hired them to get some work done. They had no idea how many 'upstanding citizens' had their hands in illegal pies all over the country just to raise their profits. The Magic Council liked people especially the guilds to believe that they were all powerful and unstoppable when the truth was that they were embroiled in layers upon layers of politics.

"I didn't think she would be able to call the council off." Said Makarov and Siegrain shook his head.

"She didn't. She just called them out on their bullshit. The council doesn't like Fairy Tail and in an attempt to get rid of you guys they were going to put the blame on this guild war on us. Thus giving them a reason to disband the guild."

He was very familiar with the politics that were involved in this disaster, "Having someone like Baron Sawyer makes it seem like someone important and powerful investigated what happened and its all legit. Its about appearances and how they portray it to the people. Since Lucy's father holds more power, they'll listen to him more than Sawyer. Jude Heartfilia is not someone you want as an enemy and because he backed us up they left us alone."

Cana narrowed her eyes at them and said, "So basically because Sawyer was a Baron if the people heard from him that we were the ones who started the guild war they would have believed it because he is a wealthy man that holds a title of great importance. However Lucy and her father have a title that hold more power than his does they couldn't do that."

Mystogan nodded, "If Duke Jude Heartfilia decided to go to the press saying the Baron was lying and tell his side of the story then it opens up to the public the corruption in the magic council. Since Jose is a wizard saint. Basically the council has more to lose and someone powerful enough that they cannot silence or threaten into submission. It's a different type of war but a war nonetheless."

Makarov just shook his head, "Alright brats, if you're injured go to the hospital if not go home. We'll rebuild the guild once we're all rested up."

He watched all his brats clear off but he couldn't help but wonder what would happen to his guild with someone like Jude Heartfilia looking out for them. He was not a nice man. He heard the rumors of his ruthlessness but if he was willing to take care of his guild he would welcome him as an ally. However Makarov couldn't help but wonder, why would someone like him believe that Natsu would make a good match for his daughter?

People like Jude from nobility, they like their children to marry within their society. To Princes and other titled people or even someone wealthy but this man allowed his only daughter to marry a mage. He had seen rich sons and daughters run away from their restricting and suffocating homes. Children running from parents who saw them as pawns and not as people. Never had he seen a rich man give his blessing so easily. He had to wonder, if this man would someday do something to hurt his guild.

"You look like someone ready to fight another war Master Makarov."

The tiny man turned to see Jude staring at him while he watched the people left in the guild stagger on towards home or the hospital. The rune knights had let him go for now but he would have to go to the council and work with them for a while.

There was going to be a whole lot of ass kissing going on to make this go away without anyone from the public looking at the magic council in the wrong light. He would enjoy squeezing out as many favors as he could. Lucy might need them in the future.

"I have many questions and very little answers." He replied and then he was shocked at what the man asked him. He never expected to have this type of conversation with a man like Jude. However if he were very honest Makarov never had a high opinion from nobility.

It was very rare to find nobles who actually cared not just about the people they looked after but also about their own family. Often it was their family that suffered the most of their greed. Freed was a good example of rich parents pushing their children away.

"Have you ever been in love?" asked Jude and Makarov just raised an eyebrow not replying. He could see the faint grin on the corners of Jude's lips much to Master Makarov's surprise. He couldn't help but feel a bit proud that he managed to shock a man as old and experienced as he.

"I loved my wife Layla with what some might say was madness. When she died I made Lucy's life miserable. I didn't mean too. I just couldn't bear to look at her when she looked so much like her mother. I threw myself into my work. Lucy was left to wander the halls of our home alone."

Jude stared out at the ocean and continued his explanation, "Lucy spent most of her life in our manor alone with no one to talk too or laugh with. Slowly I saw the smile that once was always on her face turn to a frown and still I looked the other way and pretended I couldn't see her pain."

Jude looked at the ground in shame. He should never have left such a young child to fend for herself, "I saw the light leave her eyes. Eyes so much like Layla's and I knew she wasn't happy. I hoped to marry her off and give Lucy her own family. I hoped that maybe then she would smile again but she didn't want to marry for the sake of marrying. Lucy wanted love. I never saw her happy until one day a pink haired boy came to bring her home, to Fairy Tail."

Makarov couldn't believe what he was hearing. It seemed to them that Natsu just showed up one day but Lucy had known him but Jude didn't say how the two had met. He said it like he had just appeared one day out of thin air. He was curious to how a sheltered girl like Lucy could have met Natsu if she was never allowed to leave her home.

"When she saw him, she smiled. That boy burst into my home tore down my roof and smiled like it was normal behavior of a suitor. Lucy smiled in response to his actions with so much of love and happiness that I was speechless. I had not seen my daughter smile for years and one look at him and she looked alive so I sent her with him. I made mistakes. More than I can count but this place and that boy. They make her happy after everything I did to her, she deserves to be happy."

Makarov didn't say anything but he supposed that he didn't need to say anything. He understood as a man and as a parent that sometimes we make mistakes. He had his own son and he had made his own mistakes.

Ivan had made mistakes but Makarov couldn't seem to reach him and eventually he lost Ivan completely. He didn't know if there was anything that he could have done to stop him but he definitely wasn't the perfect parent but he felt like he could understand Jude now.

He was just a father who lost his wife and didn't know how to raise a daughter. In the end the only that he could give her that would make her happy was freedom. He supposed the man wasn't that bad. If he was able to look back down the road that he walked and realize that he made mistakes and try to set them right. Makarov supposed that maybe he wasn't such a bad ally to have.

"Stop by when the guild is rebuilt. We can have a victory drink."

Jude smiled. He could see why Lucy adored this place so much. It was bursting with life, sound and happiness. These were really good people and he hadn't been around good people in a long time maybe he should visit this place more often.

Lisanna watched as everyone walked away with a heavy heart. She saw Lucy's father and the master talking while Mira spoke to Freed about something. That was before they all went home together but Lisanna watched Natsu. He tossed Lucy over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and held Wendy's hand as they walked back home with Carla and Happy flying overhead and all she wanted to do was cry.

She cursed herself. She thought that she was over this that she had let him go but seeing them so happy as a family all she could do was wish that it had been her in his arms and she felt bitter. She was mad at Natsu for finding and choosing Lucy. She was mad at her guild mates for being so happy for them. Mostly she was made at herself for feeling so unhappy, jealous and bitter that she could feel herself drowning in her own self-loathing.

This was not the way things were meant to go. This was not the person that she thought she would become. She just didn't know how she was supposed to let go of her first love even though he never loved her. She didn't how to move on and let go of something that she never had.

Cana narrowed her eyes as she stared at Lisanna. She knew what the white haired young girl was staring at and she knew why Lisanna's eyes were full bitterness. It wasn't time for her to go to the other girl. She wasn't ready to accept the truth just yet. She was too busy wallowing and sometimes you have to let yourself wallow before you pick up the pieces and move on.

She was going to be there for Lisanna when she was ready to move on but right now she was still in denial. She was still hoping that one day she would wake up and it wouldn't hurt anymore. Cana knew better. When you love someone the way Lisanna loved Natsu you need time away to get over that and Lisanna wasn't ready to leave just yet.

Lisanna and Natsu had been best friends for a long time. They spent nearly all their time together for an even longer time it was only natural that one of them would develop feelings for the other. Then Natsu just disappeared one day and reappeared different. He came back more mature with his head in a different place and they found out about Lucy.

He had married her and stepped up to be a good husband and father. Natsu had grown up while no one else was watching. She may not understand why he believed that marriage was the step that he needed to take but it didn't change the fact that he had made his choice. Natsu somehow skipped dating, playing around and sleeping around and went straight to commitment. It suited him and he was happy so no one could begrudge that happiness.

Natsu may have been gone for a year but Lisanna had waited for him during that time. She hadn't moved on and when he did return he broke her heart. Lisanna was still living in the same routine. She was still being the same person she always had been and still holding on to the memories of their friendship and the childish promise of what could have been.

Seeing Natsu and knowing that he didn't need her the way he used too was killing her. Sooner or later she wouldn't be able to stomach being here anymore and that was when Cana was going to be there for her friend. She just needed to wait until Lisanna was ready to let go.

Cana walked up to Lisanna and put an arm around her friend, "When you're ready me and you, we'll go on a trip. Just us girls and when we come back the little girl Lisanna will have become a woman."

Lisanna gave her a confused look but Cana merely chuckled and walked away. Lisanna would remember her words when she needed to remember but for now she had said everything that needed to be said.

Elfman grabbed her arm before she could leave the place completely and smiled at her. It kind of reminded her of a younger version of Elfman who used to wear suits and didn't like to raise his voice much. It made him look kinder even though the scar on his eye gave him a little bit of an edge.

"Thank you Cana." Elfman told her and Cana raised an eyebrow. She knew that Elfman was observant but she didn't realize that he knew what was going on with his younger sister.

He chuckled at her expression, "Mira doesn't see it. Ever since that incident where I nearly lost control and hurt Lisanna, Mira doesn't really see things anymore. She doesn't want to see that Lisanna isn't okay. I understand why. It scares her but at the same time it isn't healthy to just ignore the problem. Lisanna isn't happy."

Cana smiled at him, "She will be. She's just confused and hurt and Fairy Tail is suffocating her right now even if she doesn't realize it. When she's ready to leave I'll go with her and make sure she's alright and she will be. It's a broken heart and those things change you. Pain in whatever type it shapes you into a different person and Lisanna isn't ready to let go just yet but she will be soon."

Elfman nodded his head to her and before he could walk away she couldn't help but tease him a little, "You should show Evergreen how caring and understanding you can be. You'll probably get a date out of it."

Elfman groaned as the tips of his ears turned pink. Cana walked away chuckling only Fairy Tail could come out of a guild war telling jokes, worrying about their nakama and their future. Then again it was exactly the type of thing Fairy Tail was famous for doing.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

It didn't take long for both Juvia and Gajeel to join Fairy Tail once again. A month after the attack on Phantom Lord the Fairy Tail guild had been rebuilt. The iron dragon slayer had come to the guild after Juvia. Neither of them knew how Gajeel ended up joining previously but whatever had happened seemed to happen again because he was sitting in a corner sulking quietly.

Lucy didn't spare a single moment as soon as she saw Juvia she walked right up to the bluenette linked their arms together and declared that they were going to be friends. Lucy ignored the shocked faces of many of her guild mates and Juvia herself. Lucy searched for Gajeel amongst the shocked crowd and seeing the look of confusion on his face. She merely stuck out her tongue at him and pulled the other woman to the request board.

In their previous time line she had eventually developed a friendship with the grouchy male. However that was mostly due to the fact that he was kind of dating Levy. Lucy didn't like not being on good terms with the people in the guild.

She would make friends with him on a later date. Natsu still hadn't forgotten how badly beaten she had been by him and liked to keep him far away from her. She knew he would calm down eventually but right now the events were still fresh in his mind.

Juvia blinked in shock in a few times unable to really comprehend another girl wanting to be friend. She never had any friends before. Gajeel was the closest thing she had to a friend in Phantom Lord and this blonde woman accepted her without batting an eyelash.

Juvia couldn't understand why she had been accepted by Lucy especially since she had been part of the guild that had attacked her and her father. Juvia wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to do with a friend or if she could even trust this woman. She could act nice now and stab her in the back as revenge for her actions in the past.

Lucy dragged Juvia over to the request board and took a simple mission. It wouldn't take them long two days at the most. Lucy kissed her husbands cheek and ran out of the guild pulling the confused woman along for the ride.

Wendy took one look between her mother running off and her father and decided that her time would be better spent with her mother. She was less likely to set something on fire and was generally more responsible. She grabbed Carla and took off after them.

Natsu rolled his eyes at Lucy and kissed Wendy's cheek as she ran out. He smirked at the look of dejection on Happy's face when Carla refused to let him come with them. Juvia had been lonely in the guild and her crush/obsession with Gray made it hard for her to make female friends.

However she was actually a very capable fighter. She was a good addition to the team but she was easily distracted when it came to Gray for whatever reason so he hoped that Lucy helped her kick the habit.

Juvia was a nice person. It would be nice if people could talk to her without her going psycho on everyone that she assumed wanted to get with Gray. Natsu was also sure that if she could keep her head on the fights at hand she could be powerful. Juvia's skills had increased over time but she was held back by the simple fact that she didn't pay attention and she was better than that.

Hell, he was pretty sure that if he could get her to train seriously then she could take out that sand guy from the Spriggan 12. Water was an inherent weakness of sand. He'd mention it to Lucy later. He knew that Lucy was preparing for the final battle with everyone. Erza had won against that guy but she had taken way too much damage. In the end, her magic and his weren't a good match for each other but if they planned it better then they would win.

Cana, Lisanna everyone they were all kind to Juvia but it was a well-known fact that if they got too close to Gray she would freak out on them. No one really wanted to deal with her or being nearly drowned on a regular basis. Juvia pushed many people away because of her jealous behavior and her obsession with Gray made it hard to talk to her or even joke with her.

This time Lucy was determined to build a strong friendship with the other woman without her calling her a love rival every couple of minutes. It had gotten frustrating and annoying in the past and there was no way in hell she was going to let it happen again. There was also the fact that Juvia was a badass woman who was powerful, confident and beautiful. Lucy couldn't stand to see her making a fool out of herself because she wanted to be stubborn.

Natsu looked around the guild and noticed Mystogan and Siegrain were sitting with Laxus. The three men had formed a pretty strong friendship in the time that they spent away while the twins really did act like twins. Mystogan and Siegrain could read each other so well that no one could tell that they weren't really twins.

They had technically spent a lot of time a part since they didn't grow up together. However they had the same likes and dislikes so it was easy for them to build a good strong, sibling relationship. Mystogan was a bit more reserved while Siegrain was able to be more open but all in all they were settling in well in the guild. They both also made a devastating team and more than one person wondered why the hell they worked together when they were so powerful, neither one actually needed any help.

Then again the three men learned a lot from each other and Laxus was less of an ass when he hung around people who could smack some humility into him so that was a plus. Natsu kind of wanted the three of them to take on Gildarts. He was curious to see who would win but Lucy reminded him that if that fight actually did take place then they make break the continent but hey- a guy can wish.

Freed and Levy had been spending some time together. For a minute he wondered if they were dating or something when he realized that Freed was teaching Levy about runes. Levy had been ashamed that she couldn't take on Gajeel. She hated the fact that she had to run away and leave her friend behind. She was determined that she would never have to run away ever again and decided to learn more about runes and improve her skills.

Natsu was sort of proud of her. Levy was someone who never tried very hard to stand out and she wasn't an extremely violent person unlike most of the mages in Fairy Tail. She spent most of her time reading and learning but she never really pushed herself to be powerful.

Levy was content to sit back and be called average. She knew she was capable and she was able to make enough money every month for her to live on. She was able to protect her team and that was enough for her but now she was determined to be able to stand her ground. No matter how powerful her enemy. It was something that never truly happened before.

The last time when she teamed up with Gajeel to become an S-class mage Levy hadn't truly believed that she would have the power to do so. She was content to sit back and let Gajeel do all the heavy lifting. There wasn't anything necessarily bad about that.

Levy didn't like to fight all that much however he had to admit that if Levy learned defensive runes then maybe she could put up the rune enchantment. Freed would be able to fight without worrying about the barrier but it all depended on how much she learned and how powerful she became.

Gajeel never really had many friends. Looking at him now sitting in the corner of the guild it seemed like that was something that wouldn't change anytime soon. If Natsu remembered correctly then Gajeel spent a lot of his time trying to get close to Levy.

He was either seeking forgiveness or because he started to like the short blue haired girl however he spent a lot of time with Panterlily. For the first time in many months Natsu wondered where the heck was Panterlily?

The exceed said that he was going to help the other exceeds build their village and they probably were done with that months ago. To be very honest, after the drama of Edolas it was only when Happy and Carla flew back to the village to visit did he remember that they were even around.

Panterlily also wanted to explore Fiore a little. It was something about a vacation since he never had one before but Natsu couldn't help but wonder when he would return. It had been a very long time, maybe even too long. He wondered if something might have happened to him.

"Have you heard from Lily?" Natsu asked Mystogan.

The man shook his head, "I told him everything that I knew about the other timeline. Lily said he was going to do some recon but he has not contacted me in a long time."

Natsu didn't like not knowing where his friends were but at the same time Lily could take care of himself. If he had decided to do something it was highly unlikely that he would return until his mission had been completed. Natsu figured he would wait a little while longer and keep an extra eye out for him. He couldn't exactly go looking for someone when he had no idea where to even start looking for him.

He looked around the guild and realized that he had the house free for a while. Natsu decided to have a guys night. It had been a long time since he had hung out with just the guys, doing nothing but playing cards, drinking and fighting.

He had been so focused on Lucy for so long that he didn't realize how much he really missed hanging out with his friends. He knew that it was important for him and Lucy to connect as husband and wife, but he had other relationships that he needed to keep in mind.

His relationship with Lucy was something that private and different from having friends. Natsu needed to remember that there was more to life than just his wife, daughter and training. Natsu loved his family. He adored his wife but he also needed a break once in a while.

He had the feeling that Lucy was gone because she needed a break from him as well. They didn't need to be connected to each other every moment of everyday. They had worked on their relationship for just the two of them for over a year. Now it was time for him to work on himself.

He didn't want to be that person that forgot the rest of the world just because he got a wife. Things had changed but that didn't mean he couldn't hang out with the guys and have some fun. Which was probably what Lucy and Juvia would be doing as they got to know each other. Maybe when she got back he could propose that every now and then she and girls get together for a weekend while he and the guys went fishing or something. They needed the down time.

He grabbed Laxus and the rest of the guys including Gajeel and dragged them all off to his house. They all decided to play cards, drink, eat and have a mini party while the men of Fairy Tail celebrated Natsu's marriage and generally just had a good time.

They all made sure to include Gajeel, Siegrain and Mystogan since all three men were never present for a guys night. Natsu heard something break and he really hoped that it wasn't something that Lucy really liked because she would probably have them all sleeping in the woods for a couple of days.

Meanwhile Lucy, Juvia, Wendy and Carla had already finished their job and were sipping lemonade on the beach while Wendy and Carla played on the sand. Juvia couldn't help but smile at the young girl playing on the beach.

"You have a beautiful family Lucy-san."

Lucy smiled at her. She really wanted Juvia to be comfortable around her. At least comfortable enough to talk to her about her problems. Hopefully Lucy could stop her from obsessing over Gray. Her clingy nature had him running for the hills on several occasions until eventually he had come to care for her as well. She had a sneaky suspicion that Gray had always cared for the water mage but his problems with his past had him running from her promises of forever.

Lucy couldn't really blame him either. Gray was a young man. Only about eighteen years old if she remembered correctly and who in their right mind wanted to settle down at this age? She knew that things with her and Natsu were different.

They had time travel to deal with so the normal rules didn't apply to them. It made sense that Gray ran for his life every time that Juvia asked for marriage and babies. She needed the girl to calm down and just be able to have a normal conversation with him.

"Thank you Juvia, and you don't have to add 'san' all the time. Just Lucy is fine. We are friends after all."

Juvia blushed at her words. She had never had a girlfriend before. She had seen many people talk and laugh with their friends but no one ever wanted to hang out with her. Now there was this blonde haired woman who seemed totally fine with having her around.

Juvia had grown up in an orphanage and no one ever wanted to be her friend there. Looking back at how lonely and isolated her life had been as a child, it didn't really surprise her where she ended up. Phantom Lord took on anyone capable of fighting.

Due to her loneliness many people hurt her so she had learned to hurt them back. She was ashamed to admit that once they were too afraid to bother she had been relieved. She only ever wanted a friend. Jose helped make her the monster that she was but she knew that there was a better way in Fairy Tail.

"Juvia wanted to thank you for making an effort to be her friend."

Lucy smiled at her, happy that she was finally opening up, "You're family now Juvia. Fairy Tail always takes care of their own. You can come to me at any time."

Juvia bit her lip, "Juvia loves Gray-sama but she doesn't think he feels the same way."

Lucy nearly spat out her lemonade. She really didn't expect Juvia to actually admit something like that. This was technically their first time out together. She was expecting talks on fashion and hairstyles' maybe even offering to help her find a place to stay in Magnolia not relationship advice. Then again Juvia was a person that felt things very deeply.

Lucy thought back to the person she had known and Juvia was also very stubborn. Once she made up her mind that was it. She wouldn't change her mind. She had chosen Gray the first time they met and she never stopped caring for him. She decided that they were going to be love rivals even though Lucy never felt like that towards Gray and nothing she said ever managed to make her understand.

Juvia had a very one track mind but at the same time everything that she did came out of place of love so it was hard to be mad at her. Lucy really wanted Gray and Juvia to get together. They made a wonderful couple but her clingy nature terrified Gray.

She couldn't help but remember all the times that things had went sideways. There were so many misunderstandings and times that Juvia nearly drowned her for some reason or the other. For the life of her there was no way she was going through all that drama again, never again.

"What do you love about him?" asked Lucy and Juvia actually looked confused for a moment.

"He took Juvia's rain away. Gray-sama says that he doesn't mind the rain because he is an ice wizard, so he is used to the cold weather."

Lucy smiled at Juvia. She knew that it meant a lot of Juvia that Gray didn't mind if it rained. The fact that he was somehow able to make the rain stop by accepting her. Gray was probably the first person who ever accepted Juvia even though he was supposed to be fighting her and not getting himself a stalker. He hadn't even been trying to stop the rain but was just being honest was just a bonus point.

Gray really was a good man. He was a bit of a loner but he was honest. Once you were able to earn his trust then you would have it for life. He wasn't always open with his feelings but that didn't mean that he didn't have them. It just made it hard to understand what he wanted.

"Juvia, Gray is a hard person to love."

Juvia immediately defended him but Lucy merely raised an eyebrow and gave her the disapproving mom look that she sometimes gave Wendy when she tried to sneak more candy. Juvia blushed and settled down, realizing that she was over reacting and that she had interrupted her new friend while she was talking.

"Juvia is sorry. Juvia just…"

Lucy passed her a bowl of fruit and shook her head, "Its sweet that you want to defend him but you have to realize that loving someone doesn't mean that you ignore their flaws, you accept them."

Juvia looked confused so Lucy smiled at her gently and tried to help her understand, "Gray is not a person who shows his emotions easily Juvia. I believe that in time he will come to love you but for now it would be best if you tried to be his friend. Make your intentions clear. Tell him clearly that you care for him and you want to be with him and then give him time to come to terms with what you're asking for without pressuring him for more."

Juvia listened closely to what she was saying and she felt like she had to ask, "You speak of flaws, does that mean that things with Natsu aren't perfect?"

Lucy laughed at her question, "There is no such thing as perfection Juvia in anything in life, not in friendships or even relationships. We are human. People make mistakes. We get jealous or confused or misunderstand each other. Natsu isn't perfect. He isn't even the type of man I imagined myself with when I was younger. I thought I would marry a quiet, well-read person who enjoyed the same things that I did."

Juvia smiled as Lucy got lost in her thoughts. She looked older in that moment, like she had seen a life time of battles and hardships and somehow managed to make it to the other side.

When she thought of Natsu there was a light in her eyes that spoke of warmth and love and Juvia couldn't help but wish that someday she had a love like the one Lucy had with her husband. She wanted to look that happy when she thought of her partner.

"Natsu was loud, brash and rude. He got on my last damn nerve more times that I could count. I punched him in the face and kicked him out a window so many times I lost count. He made me crazy but he was honest Juvia. He cared about me. He protected me and every time something went wrong he always tried to make it up to me. He wasn't the man I imagined I would end up with but he was the person I needed. I can't see myself with anyone else. Sometimes all you need is someone who is willing to try to make it right no matter how hard it is. That's what I have with him, someone who will always try for me."

Lucy looked at her friend and saw her deep in thought when Juvia spoke again. Some time had passed and it seemed like she had been digesting everything that she had said.

Juvia bit her lip, "If I take my time and be his friend after letting him know that there isn't any pressure on him to answer my feelings isn't it possible that someone else will steal his heart away?"

Lucy shook her head, "You love him Juvia but what do you know about him? Do you when his birthday is, or his favourite colour or his hobbies? You love him for being kind and helping you but being in love is something very different. You need to learn about him and let him get to know you and build a relationship on a solid foundation. They say the best relationships are built on friendship and I can honestly say that I married my best friend and we have a strong marriage because we built a relationship off an equally strong friendship."

Juvia listened closely and she had to admit that she did know very little about him. She did want to know more. She wanted him to be able to come to her whenever he needed someone to talk too or just because he missed her.

"Be his friend Juvia, get to know him and let him know you. Don't pressure him too much. A lot of men run at the thought of commitment and Gray is one of them. A serious relationship scares them but friendship is something that he understands very well. It will give him time to fall in love with you and it will give you time, to understand him and fall in love with him."

Juvia listened to her and decided that when she returned to the guild she would talk to Gray but for now she was going to enjoy being here with her friend. She had to admit that Lucy did seem to have a point so she spent the rest of the evening sipping lemonade and asking Lucy about her adventures being a mom and a wife. She learned about the guild and everyone in it and not just Gray even though she paid extra attention every time he had been mentioned.

Lucy smiled gently as she watched Juvia watch the ocean. This is exactly what she had hoped for when she invited Juvia out for the day. She wanted the girl to look beyond just Gray and see everything and everyone else that Fairy Tail had to offer. She had done it eventually, being friends with Cana and Lisanna, getting comfortable around Gray and being his friend and supporting him but she had been trying too hard and eventually it had backfired and probably made her more miserable than happy.

She hoped that Juvia finally had a more healthy relationship now that she had given her some advice. Lucy settled more into her chair and enjoyed the rays of the sun on her face. It had been so long since she had something as relaxing as this.

Natsu was so energetic that whenever they went to the beach together they ended up swimming or dancing on the sand or playing with Wendy in the water but being here in this moment with no one around was so relaxing that she sighed out loud.

She hadn't realized how much she had missed having some time to herself. There was no way in hell that she would ever trade anything for her family but doing something as normal as going to the beach with a friend and sunbathing was something that she hadn't done in a really long time and she missed it. She decided that she needed to make more time for her friends, even though she had joined the guild again she didn't spent much time with the other girls.

She and Erza were close but they didn't hang out much unless it was during a mission or a shopping trip that didn't last very long. Lucy didn't think that she and Cana ever hung out in this time line and even though she and Levy spoke about books all the time she hadn't ever made plans with her either.

She hadn't even realized how little time she was spending with the guild until now. When she sat back and thought about it and the only reason why she was thinking about it was because she wanted to make friends with Juvia.

She and Natsu were so caught up with the fact that they were in the past and everything that they were looking towards that they had essentially forgotten to live in the moment. She decided that when she got back she would make some plans and spend a weekend with all the girls in Fairy Tail. Maybe even go to the spa for the weekend or something. She didn't want to spend all her time with her husband and forget about the people around them.

Lucy was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice when some guys who were hanging out on the beach approached the girls who were sunbathing.

"Hey beautiful." Came a cheerful voice and Lucy resisted the urge to sigh.

Juvia opened her eyes and came face to face with two guys with brown hair and brown eyes. They were the typical beach boys wearing shorts and showing of their tan and muscles. Lucy couldn't help but think that Natsu was better built than they were. She wasn't into the overly muscly type. She preferred a leaner build just like her husband.

Juvia noticing that Lucy wasn't going to say anything since she kept her eyes closed decided to make them go away. Honestly they didn't look like they were creeps. They seemed normal enough and neither girl was feeling particularly threatened they were mostly annoyed. The two girls didn't come here to try and pick up guys and didn't they come to the beach get hit on.

Lucy was married and Juvia had decided that the only person for her would be Gray. They had been enjoying the peace and quiet after a very emotional conversation. They were not interested in anything that these newcomers would have to offer them.

"You're blocking our sun boys." Replied Juvia not bothering to be polite and greet them, hoping if she seemed cold they would go away. She just hoped that they would take the hint and leave.

One of them shuffled so that they weren't blocking the sun when someone cleared their throat and asked, "We were wondering if you girls would be interested in going out for dinner tonight?"

Lucy sighed, flashed him her ring on her left hand and replied, "Sorry boys, I'm married."

Lucy sighed in relief when she heard them move away when one of them turned back to her probably to say something else when Wendy cried out for 'mama' and Lucy immediately got to her feet. Juvia followed Lucy as the two women rushed past the beach boys without a backwards glance.

They missed the looks on both guys faces when they realized that Lucy was a mother and when they returned to their friends they were laughed at good naturedly. However one of the guys looked at Juvia and noticed her guild mark on her thigh and the guys were suddenly very aware that they were betting on mages that could probably crush them in their sleep.

"Wendy where are you?" cried Lucy when she looked towards the sand and couldn't find her daughter.

Wendy dropped down in front of them with a cheeky grin on her face, "Did you see mama? I did it. I managed to fly all on my own."

Lucy sighed in relief, pulling the girl to her chest and hugging her tightly. She had been terrified for a moment that someone had tried to hurt her before remembering that Wendy was a Fairy Tail mage as well. She would have caused a tsunami or hurricane if someone really tried to kidnap her or something. Juvia decided that they all had enough excitement for the day and decided to go back home before something crazy happened.

Wendy on the hand grinned cheekily over her shoulder at the two beach boys who were trying to hit on her mother. Carla merely rolled her eyes at the girls over protective reaction but then again it did save them from actually having to talk to them too much and now they were on their way home. In the end everything more or less worked out for the best so before someone, somewhere decided to blow something up they got on the train and headed home.


	17. Chapter 17

AN: I made up a lot of stuff in this chapter about Gajeel's past, mainly because we don't know how he ended up with Phantom Lord and because I wanted to explain who Jose had murdered and why. I hope you like it and I added some fluff for Levy x Gajeel fans.

Also to my faithful readers who have been waiting for this story to come off hiatus go back to the first chapter and re read the whole story. I have edited the entire book and changed several scenes. The plot remains the same but I changed a lot of the scenes and added in some other parts.

Chapter seventeen

When Lucy and Juvia arrived home she found her home clean, almost too clean. Then she found a whole bunch of trash outside and she giggled to herself. It seemed that even though they spent the weekend apart they still thought amongst the same lines. She was just glad that he managed to clean up their mess. In fact, she was actually surprised that they managed to do such a good job.

Natsu agreed that they needed some time apart now and then, not all the time. He missed having her sleeping by his side but a day out now and then would do them some good. He even proposed that he take Wendy one weekend for some father daughter bonding. He wanted to take her fishing just the two of them and maybe the exceeds if they wanted to come.

He had spent many days sitting next to Gildarts by the river as he grew up and had questions or sometimes they just spoke about life. He thought it would be a good place to build a good relationship with his daughter as more than just her trainer. As she got older he wanted her to be able to come to him about anything to know that he would stand by her no matter where her life led her.

A couple days later Jude Heartfilia came to the guild once more, this time he wasn't covered in blood and technically starting guild wars. He came to explain to Lucy what was inside the box and why he had sent it to the guild. He felt that since the guild had gone to war because of his actions they deserved to know what happened.

Lucy was sitting in the guild, with most of the guild gathering around to listen to his explanation.

"When I started getting involved with the Magic Council I found many things that were being overlooked and I decided to look deeper into what was going on. Several guards were being paid off and most of them were minor things however I found something odd about Jose. I admit at first the only reason I looked so deeply into him was because he was so vocal of his dislike for Fairy Tail. I never expected to find something so damaging or that he would become so desperate to keep his secret."

Jude took a deep breath, ignoring the looks of confusion on everyone's face, "Before Jose could become guild master he spent a lot of his time searching for new recruits however something wasn't right about his recruitment of Gajeel Redfox so I started digging into his history. I found out that Gajeel had been found by a village girl wandering the forest after his father had disappeared. He ended up protecting the village for a while in return for food. The girl's name was Sakura and as far as I know she let him sleep in her home and generally took care of him."

He placed a picture of a beautiful young girl with chestnut brown hair and green eyes. She looked young about sixteen years or so but her smile was full of warmth. "This woman was found murdered and no one ever knew who killed her. She was apparently strangled to death and tossed into a river.

"Shortly after her death Gajeel abandoned the village and joined Jose. I found out that Jose had approached Gajeel about joining his guild but he was turned down because he didn't want to leave the girl that found him however Jose knew he was a dragon slayer so he killed Sakura and ensured that Gajeel wouldn't have a reason to turn him down again."

Lucy was stunned and horrified. No one ever knew much about Gajeel or his past. He once mentioned that his dragon left him and he was found by Jose but he never mentioned the girl in the picture or the village. She supposed that if he ever revisited that part of his past he must have done so with someone that he deeply trusted. Maybe it had been Levy or maybe he had buried it within his mind and never thought of it again.

Her thoughts were interrupted by an iron pole going through the table and Gajeel snatched the picture before anyone could stop, "Ya tellin' me that Jose did this coz he wanted me to join him?"

The guild was stunned, no one ever heard him sound so soft. Gajeel's voice was rough, hell everything about him was rough but when he spoke of the girl in the picture. When he held the picture everything that he did screamed tenderness. It was almost like he didn't want to damage the picture or speak too loudly and scare someone which was even more odd because he liked it when people jumped out of his way.

Jude merely nodded his head, "After you joined the guild, about two years later he was made guild master and another year later he joined the ranks of the Wizard Saints. However it was well-known that 'Black Steel Gajeel had become Jose's Ace in Phantom Lord."

Gajeel caressed the picture, "Can I keep this?"

"Yes you can." Replied Jude.

The man honestly didn't have a reason to keep it and it seemed that to Gajeel it was obviously something incredibly special. It would probably mean a whole lot more to him and so without another word, Gajeel walked out of the guild, taking the picture with him seemingly lost in thought.

Lucy elbowed Levy and gestured to her to follow him and the bluenette looked at her friend like she had lost her bloody mind. Lucy rolled her eyes and said, "He needs someone and if I go near him Natsu might rip out his spine by reaching down throat and pulling. He's still kind of pissed and no one else here is really good with emotions."

Levy bit her lip which she often did when she was trying to figure something out. She couldn't help that little voice in her head telling her that Lucy was right and looking around she knew none of the Fairy Tail men knew a damn thing about emotions. The girls in the guild weren't much better although she really didn't think she had the right to intrude on an obviously intimate moment for Gajeel.

Lucy gave her one last push when she saw that Levy was torn, "He is family now Levy and we take care of our own."

Levy groaned knowing that now she didn't have much of a choice anymore. She got up slowly, making sure Jet and Droy were busy and wouldn't follow her out of the guild. Levy headed in the general direction that she saw him walk in.

She found him in the woods near the place that they all once met Lucy and it felt like a lifetime ago that that had happened. Honestly, Lucy fit in so well with the guild that it was hard to remember the time that she wasn't part here.

Gajeel was still staring at the picture and she knew that he heard her coming, "She didn't deserve to die. She was kind and good and he killed her so he could use me as a weapon and I let him. I was so stupid that I might have killed her myself."

Levy didn't know what to say but then again what could she say? Jose was someone that Gajeel had trusted after he lost someone that cared about him. Technically Gajeel had lost his father and then he lost this girl that seemed to have taken him in and gave him a home when he already lost everything once before.

Jose killed her all because he wanted a dragon slayer in his guild. He wanted a powerful user of lost magic and in his selfishness to ensure that power was used for his benefit he had killed an innocent girl. A girl who had done nothing wrong. Levy couldn't imagine someone being that selfish and she couldn't help but wonder what type of person Gajeel would have been if he had stayed with someone who had actually cared about him.

"No one deserves to die and I don't think it was your fault. Jose is the one who made the choice to hurt her not you and you didn't know what he did."

Levy winced in her head because that didn't really help anything and then she wondered why she was so set on helping him. She only came out here because Lucy told her to come but at the same time, looking at him now this wasn't that monster who attacked her in the park. This was a boy who had been lied too and manipulated and he was lost. She couldn't find it in herself to be mad at him, hell she couldn't find it in herself to fear him either not when he seemed so broken.

"Jose told me that she died because I was too weak to protect her. He said that he would be able to make me strong so I went with him to get strong. He promised to make me strong enough that I would never lose anyone ever again and now I find out that he was the reason she died."

Levy could hear the anger in his voice but there was also hopelessness as well. He didn't know what to do anymore so Levy sat down on the ground behind him and did the only thing she could do for him.

"Tell me about her." Levy commanded him and Gajeel laughed.

The little bluenette had fire he could admit that, ordering him around but at the same time he finally allowed himself to remember. He finally remembered Sakura and all the good things that he had known when he knew her.

She liked to sing in the mornings and she had the voice of an angel. He would listen to her gentle voice for what seemed like hours sometimes. She was always kind to everyone she met. She didn't have a mean bone in her body. She was teaching him about kindness and compassion and empathy and once she was gone all the things she had taught him had been buried.

Jose had told him that all those emotions had made her weak and those who were weak were killed so he would be taught to be strong. However even in the depths of his mind he had never thought of her as weak. He thought she was as strong as Metalicana because she struggled but she still smiled. She was alone with no parents but she was still kind. She was able to give happiness and care to someone she didn't even know.

He didn't know how someone who had so little could care so much about others. He had turned his heart to stone and allowed bitterness to consume his heart. He was ashamed now thinking of who he had become. She would have been so disappointed. She never would have wanted the life that he had chosen for himself. He thought that she would have been proud that he was strong but now he had no bloody idea of anything anymore. He didn't even recognize himself.

"I really didn't want Jose to lose to Fairy Tail, because I knew that if he lost then everything that he ever told me would be proven wrong and then where would I be? Who am I now that I know that Jose murdered the closest thing to a mother I ever had? I protected him, followed him, learned from him, trusted him and in the end he was the one who had taken her from me."

Levy didn't think that there was anything that she could to say him that would make this better. Gajeel had been betrayed by someone he once thought he could trust and he had someone very dear to his heart stolen from all because of greed so all she offered him was silent company.

She listened as he raged, as he cried and as he cursed but she didn't once think of leaving. She wouldn't leave him to face this all on his own once he was done mourning for all that he had lost he would turn and see her waiting for him to come to her so that she could take him home, to Fairy Tail.

Lisanna heard Lucy urge Levy to go to Gajeel and they never returned to the guild. Natsu told her that Gajeel and Levy were going home. He assured her that they were both fine, emotionally drained but they were alright. Lisanna had come to terms with the fact that Natsu would never be hers but she still couldn't find it in herself to befriend Lucy.

She knew it was petty and God help her she knew that she was being bloody ridiculous but at the moment she couldn't help the bitterness that was encased in her heart. Natsu had been by her side for many years. She had been there when he happy, sad, lonely and everything in between and then one day he just up and disappeared.

Happy had appeared saying that Natsu had taken off and when he came back he acted strange and distant and then he was just gone. When Elfman lost his mind and was probably about to kill her he appeared out of thin air and saved her. She had thought of him like a knight in shining armor.

It was in that moment that she knew that she cared for him, that her feeling ran deeper than just normal friendship. Lisanna never had the chance to even tell him because the blonde woman was suddenly just there as well. She was could almost physically feel him pulling away from her.

Time passed and she grew used of Natsu not being around and not being the center of his universe but at the same time she still missed him. As she saw him playing the part of a father and husband, the more she wished that she was the woman that he was so in love with. It was everything that she had ever hoped it would be and it was being given to someone else.

Lucy had appeared out of no-where and she had stolen Natsu from her. She knew what Mira and Bisca and Levy were saying and in her head she knew that they were right. That it wasn't their choice who he loved and how he ended up with her just that he had made his choice and it was time to get over him. She had slowly come to terms that the amazing man that Natsu was, did not belong to her and she would never get the chance to be with him but it hurt.

It still didn't change the fact that she was bitter and she couldn't blame Natsu. She never asked him to make her any promises and she didn't want to lose his friendship. She couldn't blame Natsu and she needed someone to blame so the only person left was Lucy. She didn't want to befriend her and she didn't want to like her. Lisanna also knew that Mira was picking up on her dislike to the blonde woman and she had no reason to dislike her other than pettiness.

"Lis, are you alright?" asked Mira and Lisanna shut her eyes and wanted to hide under her blankets. Mira wanted answers and she didn't think she had the energy to lie to her big sister and tell her that everything was alright. She wanted to let out all the anger and bitterness that she was carrying in her heart and she didn't know if Mira would ever forgive her if she knew her true thoughts.

"You know I noticed that you stay far away from Lucy but you talk to Natsu and Wendy. Today when Lucy told Levy to go to Gajeel, you were frowning so do you want to tell me whats really on your mind?"

Lisanna just buried herself deeper into the covers, "You'll hate me." She muttered and Mira just sighed.

"For being human and not being all buddy buddy with the person who married your first love?"

The way Mira said made Lisanna feel stupid for thinking that her sister wouldn't understand. Mira always understood. She loved her siblings and she always tried to understand them and make them feel comfortable with who they were and what they were feeling. She would never turn on them.

"I hate her. I hate that she's friends with everyone. That everyone treats her like a little sister or daughter. I hate that she's powerful enough to go toe to toe with Erza and I hate that Natsu loves her and I hate myself for feeling all of this." Cried Lisanna as everything just came tumbling out of her mouth and she couldn't stop the tears.

Mira gathered her sister in arms and let her cry, "I hate that I hate her. That I feel awful every time I see Natsu so happy with her. I hate the fact that I'm jealous that she somehow had everything that I ever wanted and I don't even know how she took it all."

Mira just sighed, jealousy was an ugly hateful hurtful thing and there was nothing she could do here. Lisanna was heartbroken and she couldn't help her feelings. As much as Fairy Tail boasted about being a family there was the fact that they were still human.

They hated, lusted, and got jealous and possessive. They always put the happiness of their nakama before their own and tried to be better. They tried to make sure that the negative feelings didn't linger. They sought to rise above their feelings but it didn't help the fact that it still hurt and it took time to overcome some emotions.

"Maybe you should leave for a while Lisanna." Said a voice from the doorway.

Both girls turned shocked to see Elfman standing in the doorway of her room and looking at her sadly. Neither girl knew how long he had been standing there but it was obvious that he had been listening for quite some time now.

Mira immediately turned on him, "You aren't serious are you? Being a little jealous isn't a good enough reason to kick our sister out of the house Elfman."

The big man rolled his eyes at her even though she had the steely glint in her eyes that usually showed up before someone got a beat down.

"I didn't mean to throw her out Mira. I meant a journey of self-discovery, time away to heal her broken heart and maybe give her time to fall in love again."

Lisanna looked at Elfman like he lost his mind when he simply shook his head and joined his siblings on the bed and gathered Lisanna in his arms.

"Natsu is a person who makes decisions and he stands by them so when he decided that he was ready to get married to Lucy nothing would ever change his mind. However us normal people we like to enjoy our youth by falling in love more than once. That's the purpose of dating Lisanna. It also helps with growth. Love is a wonderful thing and you are a wonderful girl who deserves to be loved but you're also young. You deserve the chance to meet different people and figure out who you want to be with. The world is a lot bigger than just our guild and there are a lot of different people in the world. You should go out and meet them."

Mira hated to admit it but Elfman did have a point. She had met so many different people and mages when she went on missions. A lot of the men that she met, turned her off and showed her what she didn't want in a partner and she supposed that Lisanna had been so focused on Natsu that she never actually took a look at her options.

"It sounds like a good idea Lisanna. We all went on training missions but you deserve the chance to explore the world on your own and figure yourself out. Give yourself some time and distance to heal from your first heartbreak."

Lisanna didn't want to leave her siblings behind but at the same time she couldn't help but feel like she really needed this. She didn't want to be this hateful person that couldn't get past this. She wanted to be happy again and if that meant taking a break from everyone and figuring herself out. She wouldn't have to pretend like everything was okay for a while then that's what she was going to do. She supposed that was another reason why she was so tired and unhappy all the time, because she didn't want anyone to know that she was miserable.

She needed some time to wallow in self-pity and then she needed to put the pieces of herself back together because this behavior was ridiculous. She had been one of the girls that laughed at the other girls who let a guy ruin them.

Now looking in the mirror she couldn't even recognize herself. She was doing exactly what she laughed at other girls for doing when they were heartbroken. She had accepted the fact that Natsu wasn't hers and she was drowning in the fact the she would never have him and she didn't want to be this person. The person that breaks because she didn't get the guy, the bitter girl who couldn't get past her first love.

She needed to let herself cry through the pain and let the anger out and then she needed to build up her self-confidence and she knew just the person to do it with. Cana had gotten back from her jobs with her father. Lisanna knew that she was looking or a break from their father-daughter time so who better to go on a journey of self-discovery than with the Queen of Parties.

Cana would be understanding and happy to help her find herself without judging. Cana was well-known for the fact that she wouldn't judge anyone for anything so she would make the perfect partner in crime. She would also kick her in the ass and give her some much needed strength. Self-pity was fine and good but only if you were going to fix yourself once you were done wallowing.

That night, Lisanna slept in peace because for the first time in a really long time she finally had some direction in her life and the pit of bitterness in her stomach didn't seem so endless anymore.


	18. Chapter 18

AN: Updating schedule- I don’t have one. I work and I study part time. Doing both doesn’t leave a lot of free time for writing. However I am trying to aim for one chapter every two weeks. Its unlikely I’ll make it that far however it is my aim.

Also no one said anything but do you guys want a nalu wedding ceremony? I have said that they didn’t get a real wedding. Lucy might want to have a real ceremony but I don’t know yet. Is it something that you guys want to see?

Also Lucy will not get pregnant. I got them married because I needed them to do something while waiting for the events if the anime to start. I focused closely on their relationship as husband and wife in that time. Now they got bigger problems. Wendy is their kid no other baby.

Chapter 18

Lucy had been worried all day. Wendy decided to take on a job by herself. It was the first time that Wendy had taken a request and she couldn’t help but worry. Natsu on the other hand seemed to believe that she was going to do just fine.

“How are you so calm?” questioned Lucy and Natsu chuckled.

He placed a kiss on her forehead as she cuddled into his arms. They were sitting at the bar with Levy giving them a look of exasperation. Lucy had been alternating between depressed and overly concerned for a couple hours now and her friend was just done with the mood swings.

“I took on the same jobs when I first came to the guild. Wendy is already more trained in magic than I had been and her offensive abilities are already greater than mine were at that age. It’s a simple tracking request for 20 000 jewel.” 

Lucy burrowed deeper into his arms, “The people who put the request up were putting a team together Natsu. That means they might not take Wendy seriously. She is young and they are going after someone.”

Natsu tried not to let her see how much he thought she was over reacting. He didn’t want Lucy to think that he was dismissing her concerns but this was a bit over the top. Wendy had been far less trained in the other timeline when she started taking jobs. 

She had lived in Fairy Hills and the rent there was about 50 000 jewel for anyone under the age of thirteen. She managed to do well even though the other girls that lived in the dorm probably helped her out a lot. All in all Wendy was far more prepared for this job than she would have been in the other timeline.

“She isn’t going to fight anyone. All she has to do is track the person via scent. Afterwards she’ll stand back and let the other people in her team retrieve the kidnapped victim. She deserves the chance to test out her abilities in the real world. You were the one who wanted her to get some real world experience.”

Lucy groaned as she turned back to the bar to sip at her milkshake, “I didn’t think she would want to go off on her own so soon.”

Natsu just gave her a deadpan look which reminded her of how much Wendy had been capable of accomplishing on her own. Lucy finally just gave up complaining once she saw that look on his face. She was over reacting and she knew it. Wendy was more than prepared for a simple mission like this. She just couldn’t help but worry.

However at the same time Natsu was right. Lucy had wanted Wendy to test out her abilities in a real life situation. Lucy noticed that Erza, Gray and everyone else that managed to train had increased their magic levels. They were able to use magic for a longer period of time and the people in her team were using more advanced moves. 

Erza for example started using different parts of her armor as needed during the grand magic games. It was an advanced move to be able to call upon specific parts of her armor and not the entire thing. It took a lot of control and the fact that she was able to do it in the middle of battle was amazing.

However first time anyone saw her do something like that was in the grand magic games. She mastered it after that time, when she had gotten her second origin. While she could do it now she still didn’t seem as powerful as she had been then. Lucy spent a lot of time trying to figure out why even though everyones magic power had increased and they were using more advanced techniques they still weren’t on the same level as they had been before.

Natsu was the one who pointed out that they didn’t have the same experiences. Gray still had a lot of guilt over his past. Erza while she had made peace with Jellal and was waiting for her friends to come to her when they were ready still wasn’t at the same level. She was far more powerful that was true but she wasn’t as experienced. They hadn’t learned the lessons that they learned the last time when they faced their past foes.

While they were upping their magic levels they needed more experience. Experience would only come from facing powerful opponents. None of them had been pushed to their limits and then forced to break those limits. You only really know how far you can go when you’re pushed into a corner and forced to fight your way out. Moving past your limits, that pain, the fear and the determination to move onwards was something that none of them had experienced yet. It would be the reason why they weren’t as powerful as they chould be yet.

Natsu and Lucy were trying to decide if they should take on more dangerous jobs. There were requests to take down dark guilds and groups of monsters. Some of these quests they hadn’t taken the last time but honestly neither of them were completely sure which jobs they had taken. They remembered the big stuff but the day to day had them both at a loss.

Neither one of them wanted their friends to get hurt but a war was coming. They had some time and they had a lot of other enemies to deal with. The Balam Alliance consisted of three powerful guilds. All three guilds had been destroyed due to Fairy Tail. The battles had been bloody, painful but they ended in victory and many of their friends reached new levels. The only way to get stronger now was to defeat their enemies. 

Levy and Juvia snapped Lucy out of her thoughts when both came to occupy her with some magazines and talk of their up and coming plans. They wanted to check out one of the spar resorts and Lucy thought it would be the perfect time to introduce Juvia to a couple other women in the guild. 

It would also give Natsu and the rest of the guys the perfect opportunity to go do whatever they wanted to do to bond. While she knew that they would need more experience to truly put them on the same level they had been the last time she couldn’t forget to enjoy life as much as she could as well. 

They were all on a much higher level than they had been in the first timeline. If she were to guess, she would put their magic and experience levels somewhere around the oracion seis incident. They all needed to gain experience to move them onwards. 

Meanwhile Wendy had already completed her part of the job. There was a Noble family who had been attacked by bandits and their daughter had been taken hostage. They already had a team that worked for the family as body guards to get the girl back but they lacked a tracker. They put in a request at the guilds for a mage who was able to using tracking magic. 

It was obvious that the couple and the guards weren’t sure what to think of the young girl who had answered their request. However Wendy held her head high just like mama did when people tried to look down on her. Carla walked at her side proud of how Wendy was handling the situation. 

Wendy introduced herself to the couple and picked up a stuffed rabbit. The toy obviously belonged to the child that had been kidnapped. Wendy hadn’t realized that the girl was so young but the toy was covered in her scent. She took a deep breath and once she had the scent memorized she was easily able to find the child.

She had stood aside and let the guards handle the kidnappers. They weren’t even mages so Wendy didn’t see the point in getting involved. Once they were done, they all returned to their employers and Wendy got her part of the reward. Carla smiled at Wendy who was gushing to her friend how well their job had gone and how proud her parents would be.

Wendy boarded a train back home. She sat quietly with Carla munching on some sandwiches, waiting to get back home to tell her parents how well the job went. Carla however noticed a man wearing a white suit staring at the young girl sitting next to her. The cat narrowed her eyes at him and he sent her a wicked smile.

“Now what’s this that we have here? A little girl and her pet.”

Wendy stared at the man in front of her. He had a cocky smile on his face and there was something in his eyes that warned her that he was not a nice man. He stared at her guild mark with hatred. Wendy nearly took a step backwards before realizing that her papa never backed down. She raised her chin in deviance, looked him in the eye and questioned him.

“What do you want from me?”

Both Wendy and Carla were proud when her voice came out loud and strong instead of the stuttering mess that it once would have been.

The man in white sent a kick flying in her direction and Wendy back flipped out of the way. She narrowed her eyes at him and his smile turned deadly.

“Fly. That’s what we call people from legal guilds. You think you can take me on?”

Wendy centered herself and stared at him, “I don’t want to fight you.”

The man in front of her laughed, “Mages from legal guilds are trash. I take out the trash.”

Wendy’s eyes widened as she realized that the person in front of her was probably from a dark guild. 

“Roar of the sky dragon.”

The man’s eyes widened as he disappeared into the shadows on the ground. This little girl had a lot more magic power than he first thought. When he reappeared, the lullaby flute fell out of his pocket and rolled onto the floor. 

Wendy picked up the strange looking flute when the man in white sent out a stream of darkness while she was distracted. Wendy was trapped in a bubble made out of the shadows and the man stared at her with an ugly expression on his face. 

She had seen the flute. Erigor would kill him if he let her go so he left her trapped in his shadow cage. 

“Can’t let you go now girlie. You saw the lullaby flute. We can’t have you telling people what you’ve seen or it might mess up our plans.” He said to the girl as she tried to escape the shadow cage.

Carla took to the air but Wendy shook her head before the man could see her friend. Wendy pointed to the window and gestured for her to go. Carla shook her head not wanting to leave her friend behind but Wendy took a deep breath and pointed out the window. 

“Go to the guild.” She mouthed to Carla and she understood.

Wendy didn’t know what this man was planning but it was bigger than her. He wouldn’t let her go easily so they would need back up. Carla burst through one of the trains windows and headed towards the guild at max speed.

Sometime later the train had been stopped and Kage met up with the rest of his guild. He explained to Erigor what happened and why he took the girl hostage however the man was not pleased. He knew that this would bring unwanted attention to their plans. 

The girl was young which meant that someone would come looking for her soon. People always kept a closer eye on kids which meant that someone would notice when she didn’t come home. They couldn’t let her go and they couldn’t just kill her. The death of a kid would cause mass hysteria and a man hunt for them.

“Erigor, do you think it’s a good idea to take the little girl?” asked someone in the back of the crowd.

The man scrowled at him, “She’s from a legal guild. If she went home she would have brought attention to our plans. She’s young too that means that someone is going to come looking for her. Just because we unsealed the flute doesn’t mean we can take any risks. We’ll need to keep them occupied and she makes a good hostage.”

The group boarded the stolen train and headed for their destination. This little girl and whoever came looking for her would not stand in the way of their plans.

Carla burst through the guild doors and landed on the ground painfully as her magic power had run out. She was exhausted and took several deep breaths to try and catch her breath.

“Carla?” questioned Happy.

“They took Wendy.” Cried the white cat and several people gasped.

“Who took Wendy?” asked Levy but Lucy and Natsu were already walking out the door anger pouring off them both in waves. It made Cana feel a little bad for the moron that took the sweet girl. Who knew that Natsu of all people would be this protective? Then again it did sort of fit his personality.

“Some guy with black hair who used shadow magic. He attacked Wendy when he saw her guild mark. They fought and when some flute fell out of his pocket he trapped her in a shadow cage. He said that he couldn’t let her go because she had seen the flute.”

Lucy scrowled, “Erigor and his guild.”

Gray and Erza immediately fell into step with them, “I heard some rumors about the dark guild Eisenwald and their Ace Erigor. They were rumors that they were planning something but with no other information I was going to wait for the Master to return. Are you sure this is him?”

Natsu raised an eyebrow towards her, “He already left for the Meeting?”

Erza nodded and both Natsu and Lucy shared a look. This was something else that had changed. The last time they found out about lullaby because Erza came across the information on her way home from an S-class request. 

They hadn’t known that the real target was the Masters at the meeting until the very last minute. The lullaby monster was one of the weaker monsters they had faced. The last time they faced the creature they were easily able to overcome it. In fact, if Lucy remembered correctly she never attacked the creature. She hadn’t been powerful enough or had any spirits that could have helped back then.

However they weren’t sure why Erigor had taken Wendy hostage or why he had targeted the train station. The last time he went there with his army because Natsu had been on the train. He had seen the flute and Erigor hasn’t wanted to take the risk of them following him. That wasn’t completely different. Wendy saw the flute as well. The only reason Natsu got off the train was because Erza had come looking for him. It was possible that Kage took Wendy hostage because no one came to get her off the train before he could try anything else. 

“Erigor seeks to destroy the train station. If he destroys the railway line no one would be able to cross the canyon. It cuts the masters off from anyone trying to help them. It had been his plan the last time as well however we got in the way.”

Lucy always had an answer for him. Natsu couldn’t help but appreciate the fact that his wife was smart enough to figure out their enemies plans. Natsu however couldn’t help but be pissed. They took his daughter for their dumb plan. He was going to burn them all alive.

Once they boarded the train, Carla described the flute and Lucy remembered that the last time Erza didn’t know what the flute did. All she had learned was that the members of a dark guild were looking for some sort of dangerous artifact. 

“That sounds like lullaby.” Said Lucy and Gray raised an eyebrow in her direction.

“I read about it in books. Lullaby is a death magic. A song of death, if you play the flute anyone who hears it will die. It was supposedly sealed away and no one knew where it was but it is possible that they found it.”

Erza grimaced, it sounded exactly like something that Erigor would like to get his hands on. He made most of his money by doing assassination requests. The entire guild of Eisenwald was dedicated to doing nothing more than killing or stealing. 

Team Natsu arrived at the station quickly where Wendy had been taken hostage. There they learned that the dark guild Eisenwald had already stolen a train and were driving towards an unknown destination. The army had gone been deployed to get the situation under control. 

“Where do we go from here?” asked Gray and Erza stared at the railway.

“We follow the train. Where ever they stop the train is probably where they will play lullaby.”

Lucy, Gray, Natsu, Carla and Happy squeezed into a car with Erza driving and Lucy couldn’t help but sigh once Natsu was hunched over and nauseous. Honestly, she was going to have Wendy find an enchantment better than Troia. This weakness was just sad to watch and completely inconvenient.

It didn’t take them long to find the train station that Erigor and his friends had set up shop in. Before Erza could move inside Lucy caught her arm, “I don’t believe that they would just use that magic here. There isn’t any point in killing all these innocent people. Its possible that they’re just using this place as a diversion. We get Wendy and then we get that flute.”

Erza and Gray nodded their heads and Erza smiled slightly. It was highly possible that this was a diversion and it was something that she had overlooked in light of the situation.

Erigor greeted them as soon as they burst through the doors. Natsu kept one ear on the conversation between Erza and Erigor and his eyes on Wendy. She was being held inside a shadow cage in the center of the room. 

Natsu felt his hands catch fire, “Let my daughter go ya bastard.”

The dark haired man stared at him before sending out streams of shadows to attack Natsu. He burned them away with a flick of his wrist. Several people scrowled and Erigor chose that as the perfect time to disappear into thin air.

Erza scrowled at the place where Erigor had just been and cried out, “Natsu, Gray follow him.”

Natsu on the other hand shook his head to her, “Not leaving my daughter here Erza.”

After Natsu spoke he sent out a stream of fire from his hand that broke Wendy out her shadow cage easily. They smiled at each other and Natsu headed in the direction that he saw Erigor flying off too.

“Wendy you’re with me.” He called out over his shoulder.

The girl nodded her head and was immediately joined in the sky by Carla. Gray, Natsu and Wendy went after Erigor while Lucy and Erza faced the rest of the guild. Kage and Rayure decided to follow them.

Erza didn’t waste any time. The fact that Erigor was so willing to leave just proved that Lucy was probably correct about all this being a diversion. She immediately hit them with her circle swords taking out half the people in the room. Lucy changed into the Taurus stardress and flicked her whip creating an earth wave which resembled a mini earthquake. 

Some of the members that managed to avoid their first attack, jumped over their unconscious members sending out blasts of magic. Erza requipped and there were mutters that they were facing the Titania, Queen of the Fairies. Lucy couldn’t help but smile at the name knowing that eventually Erza had accepted the title.

Lucy changed into her Star Dress Sagittarius and sent out three star shots that destroyed the mages that were going to attack Erza from the back. Lucy almost smiled. This was easier than she remembered. 

Lucy was a little shocked that it had taken them less than ten minutes to finish them all off. However Erza called upon a lot of swords and Lucy’s earth wave attack was a lot stronger than using Cancer. She loved her spirit but Cancer was never one of her most aggressive spirits. He didn’t like to fight much even though he always did his best.

Erza however didn’t even seem to need time to take a breather. Probably because this time her magic reserves were much larger and she wasn’t as drained at the end of the fight. The two women took off to try and find Erigor.

Meanwhile Kage was facing off against Natsu and Gray was fighting Rayure. Natsu knew what Erigor was planning and he already told her to follow after him since she could fly as well. He was pretty sure that they would get caught in the wind wall but Wendy would go after Erigor. He wasn’t happy with it but he was pretty sure that Wendy would kick his ass or at least hold off against him until he got there.

He punched Kage extra hard in the teeth for taking his daughter before Lucy and Erza caught up to them. While Erza explained to Gray that they were trapped in the wind wall and Gray explained who the true target was, Kage was once more nearly killed by his own guild mate. Lucy opened Virgo’s gate and she dug them out in less than half the time it took in the other timeline.

Honestly Natsu thought it was more than a little anti climatic how little effort was needed in this mess. Happy took him in the direction that Wendy headed in and once he got there he decided to sit back and watch. Wendy didn’t really seem to need any help yet.

Erigor noticed the blue haired girl following after him and send of a wave of wind that she seemed to duck under. They landed on the canyon and he narrowed his eyes at her.

“What are you planning to do all the way out here?” 

He laughed at her naivety, “The guild masters conference is here little girl. Those old geezers are the reason why my guild was excommunicated. They’re the reason we’re hunted.”

Wendy’s eyes narrowed. This man was planning on killing the Master. The old man that welcomed her to his guild and accepted her as his child. The man that waged because her mama was hurt. He didn’t have to do that. He didn’t need to fight to defend her. Lucy was a new guild member but he was willing to wage war on those who harmed her. He protected them and this man was going to hurt him for some stupid reason.

“You’re blaming them for your crimes. You knew that killing people was against the law and you broke that law. You’re nothing but a little child throwing a tantrum because you didn’t get your way. In the real world, when you break the law you pay the price. Take responsibility for your crimes.”

Erigor growled low in his throat, “Little bitch. Disappear.”

A mini-tornado appeared trapping her inside it. Wendy grit her teeth and called her wind to protect her. She withstood his attack, before sending out her wind to cut through his attack and once it disappeared she roared in his direction. Erigor’s eyes widened, the little girl was far more powerful than he thought and she was able to use wind magic. He took to the air to avoid her roar but Wendy saw it coming.

She chased him through the air sending attacks after him until he wrapped the wind around him. Erigor gloated about her not being able to beat his storm mail since none of her attacks would hit him now.

Natsu was joined by the rest of his team by that time. Erza and Gray looked up at Wendy, “Should we help her?”

Natsu shook his head, “She can beat him. I know she can.”

Lucy bit her lip as she watched the two mages in the sky. A flash of golden hair caught Wendy’s eye and she knew that her parents were there and they weren’t doing anything. She looked down and locked eyes with her papa. Natsu raised an eyebrow at her. He would help her. All she had to do was ask for his help and he would attack. They all would but she didn’t want to do that.

Wendy bit her lip. She didn’t want to ask for help yet she wanted to beat Erigor on her own. She wanted to protect the Master the way her protected her and her family. Wendy stared at him and the wind that surrounded him before grinning. She could win this and she knew how. 

Papa fought with brute strength. He was strong enough to go through his opponents no matter what but her mama fought smart. She didn’t have the same brute strength but she planned her attacks. She didn’t have to out muscle him. He was more experienced using magic offensively. All she needed to do was send out a series of well-planned attacks and she would win. 

Wendy took a deep breath and started to pull the wind towards her. She had been flying for a long time. It had been the longest she had spent in the air and she was tiring but she was also a dragon slayer. That meant that she could refuel in the middle of a fight as long as she had her element around her. Air was always around her.

Natsu and Lucy grinned as Erigor’s shield started to crumble as their daughter ate it. Wendy smiled at the dumbstruck look on his face, “Thanks for the meal.”

Erigor took a step back when Wendy smiled, “Dragon slayers secret art – Sky drill.”

Erza and Gray stared opened mouthed at the young girl in front of them. She had created a cyclone and trapped Erigor inside it. Once the wall of wind fell Erigor was left unconscious inside a crater. Everyone converged around the young girl congratulating her on doing so well. While everyone was caught up in Wendy’s win, Kage snuck away with Lullaby. 

Lucy resisted the urge to face palm. She actually forgot that happened. She couldn’t help but feel like they should have just left the guy on the floor. He didn’t die the last time. They gave him emergency treatment. He would have survived. She sighed as they once again took off to the Master where they would probably have to fight lullaby. However Erza, Gray and Natsu were barely bruised. It wouldn’t take much to take down the flute.

As soon as they saw the Master she knew that Master Bob would not allow them to stop Kage. Natsu knew that the master would succeed however the flute was living magic. It had a consciousness of its own and it would attack on its own. However they were soon distracted by Master Bob until they heard the flute start ranting.

It took Lucy a minute to remember that the flute was talking. She forgot how annoying that bloody monster was. It wasn’t that powerful. It hadn’t taken them long to defeat it without her help and all of them had been low on power at the time. Wendy however was tired and worn out so Lucy gestured for her to go stand with Master Makarov and the others. 

Natsu, Gray and Erza were already beating the shit out of the monster. However when her husband started to raise the temperature of his flames Lucy remembered what happened the last time they took down Lullaby. They destroyed the meeting hall and it resulted in a lot of problems. She refused to let them do that much damage again. The flute had already destroyed a mountain and sent the knights running for the hills.

Lucy requipped the Libra key to her hand and changed into her star dress to match the spirit. A monster this large would require more power. She was sure that Libra could do it but she would need some help. It wouldn’t be hard for the both of them. 

“Erza keep it busy for a minute.” Called out Lucy.

“Gray give Natsu a boost.” She called out and both Gray and Natsu nodded at each other.

Gray’s hands started to ice over as he created a giant hammer. Natsu jumped off the flutes shoulder towards the hammer, hitting it feet first. Gray swung the hammer giving Natsu an extra boost and launching him into the air. Lucy and Libra changed the flutes gravity, the creature was huge and it took more power than she expected. She knew it would be hard but this was actually surprising. It was almost like the monster was trying to resist the gravity change.

Lucy grinned once Natsu was high enough she dropped Lullaby. The monster was not expecting to be dropped so suddenly and went crashing back towards the earth. Natsu set his entire body on fire, meeting Lullaby halfway in the sky smashing it to pieces without destroying anything on the land.

Actually Lucy would be surprised if anything got damaged since she launched both her husband and the monster far into the sky. She could already see him falling down and she caught him using gravity magic from Libra. She set him down gently and Natsu was already chuckling.

Master Bob stared at Lucy, “You are a celestial spirit mage.”

He had not seen this magic since Karen died. He knew that the woman wasn’t the kindest out there but she didn’t deserve to die. He knew that she soon got caught up in the crowd and in the fame and started treating her spirits as tools. He had been so disappointed in her. He once had such high hopes for her but he also noticed when she changed.

Master Bob had truly believed that she knew better than that. In fact he was sure that she knew what she was doing was wrong. Karen just didn’t care anymore as long as she was seen as powerful. She hadn’t always been that cruel but it happened sometimes. More times than he cared to remember. The fame of being a mage would change people and it had happened to Karen.

Lucy nodded at him, “I am.”

He stared at her for another moment lost in thought. The mage in front of him didn’t seem to be like Karen at all. Her spirit was still standing beside her but there was something in the way that the spirit held itself. It was protective even though the danger had passed. The spirit cared about the mage who called her. It seemed like this mage was far more compassionate than Karen had been. 

“You are far more powerful than any other celestial spirit mage I have ever seen. Never have I seen the technique that allows the mage to take on the power of the spirit.”

Lucy smiled gently at him, “It’s called Star Dress Master Bob.”

Libra on the other hand stared at the man, “Star dress cannot be learned. It is gifted to a mage by the Celestial Spirit King. The last user who was blessed by this technique was Anna Heartfilia. She was one of the most powerful stellar mages in history. She set the record of opening three golden gates. A record which had been broken by her descendant.”

Makarov’s eyes widened at the information. Stellar magic was not something he had much knowledge of. Unlike Master Bob he couldn’t remember the last time he had a stellar mage in his guild.

“Would you not get into trouble for that information? I know it is against Stellar laws to give out information on key holders.” Asked Goldmine.

Libra shook her head, “Anna Heartfilia is one of the most popular and well-known mages in both our worlds. The information I have given you could have easily been found in any book about stellar magic. I cannot answer questions like which spirits she was contracted too but this is general information.”

Libra smiled at Lucy, “I shall return now.”

Libra disappeared in a flash of golden light and Master Bob smiled, “Your name child?”

“Lucy. Lucy Dragneel.” She replied and the man’s jaw suddenly dropped.

“Dragneel? Like Natsu Dragneel? The Fire Dragon Slayer?” asked Goldmine.

Master Makarov chuckled, the other masters knew a lot about his brats. Mirajane, Erza, Laxus, Natsu and many others had grown up in the guild. The other masters had been there as they grew into their power and Natsu was a powerful mage. He had a reputation as the Salamander as well. 

Natsu walked over to Lucy and Master Bob in time to hear her reply, “Hai. Natsu is my husband. My maiden name is Heartfilia.”

Goldmine’s jaw dropped, “Like the heiress?”

Lucy blushed and looked away, “Hai.”

The man looked at them in shock as many of the other masters all looked towards Makarov to ask him when Natsu had married and why no one knew about it. The master sighed, everyone had already forgotten about lullaby and by tomorrow everyone would know that Natsu had married someone.


	19. Chapter 19

AN: So one of my reviewers said that they preferred Juvia the way she's portrayed in the anime. They weren't completely happy with the conversation Lucy had with her. This is my reason for that- in this retelling of the story I've been avoiding the anime tropes.

This retelling with Natsu and Lucy back in time they're both in a much more mature mindset with completely different priorities. They saw a war – one that ended with the death of everyone they cared about. Juvia's jealousy doesn't fit in well. She is often distracted by her feelings for Gray like in the Naval Battle in the GMG arc. It makes her foolish and immature.

Also in the real world she would be a stalker and probably arrested. Also I seriously don't think her obsession with him is healthy. I do ship them after the Tartarus arc. We see the depth of Juvia's feeling very clearly there however in the anime with her being crazy it makes her an airhead. In a world filled with magic and dragons I'm trying to write it in a more realistic manner. Which means crazy will probably have you end up in a padded room.

I want to explore the characters to their full potential without denying any part of their personalities as realistically as possible. Juvia is a strong beautiful woman. She makes a good partner for Gray but only if we pull away from her antics that are used for humor purposes.

Sorry for the rant but I hope this helps you guys understand why I've written my story like this.

Now I've been playing with this idea for a long time now. The Galuna island arc is something that I have put a lot of thought into mostly because if this is Natsu from the end of the Alvarez arc then he is technically more powerful than Gildarts.

I say this because we see that he takes out Bluenote Stinger with one hit something that Gildarts couldn't do when they fought. (I don't care if you think I'm wrong. I know that this is something heavily debated and this is my opinion. Since I'm the author of this story its what I choose to believe.) He cannot hide that much power any longer so I hope you guys like the direction we're heading in.

This arc will be split up into two parts, maybe three depending on how long the next chapter will be. It will take some to pick up the depth of what I'm doing so if you think you know where I'm taking this arc review and lemme know.

Chapter 19 – Galuna Island Part 1

After dealing with the lullaby debacle Lucy was actually quite surprised when the magic council didn't send anyone to arrest Erza or Natsu. When she thought about it logically she could see the reason why they managed to avoid the consequences that they faced the last time. The magic council just wanted to be seen as doing something when they arrested Erza. She technically was never in any danger.

A demon of Zeref no matter how easily it had been dealt with had terrified the population. The people of the Kingdom relied on the military to keep them safe. The magic council was part of that military and they had failed to do anything about the situation. They hadn't even known what was happening until it was too late and their men failed at bringing down the guild responsible for unsealing the demon.

The guild didn't really advertise their actions. It was left to the magic council to clean up their mess and it was a mess. They had destroyed the train station, the railway line and the regular meeting place, not forgetting the mountain and land that the monster destroyed. Someone had to be seen taking responsibility for everything that happened in their first lifetime. Erza being the center of everything that happened was the perfect pawn.

This time even though there were damages to the train station it wasn't as severe as it had been in the past. Natsu knew was going to happen so he took out Kage with one punch and left to follow Wendy. Some broken windows and a broken door was the worst of the damage. Wendy fought in the air and she didn't damage the railway lines. Lucy had thrown Lullaby into the air which saved most of the land from the damage that had been caused when they destroyed the monster.

The magic council needed to do something however this time they couldn't blame anything on anyone. Lucy nearly groaned at the cover page of the Sorcerer was of Lucy in her Libra star dress with Libra by her side changing the gravity on Lullaby. It also showed Gray throwing Natsu towards the monster with his entire body on fire. Erza was in there somewhere with her sword cutting off an arm. She didn't even want to know where they got the picture from but she had a sneaking suspicion that it was Master Bob.

The article explained that a dark guild unsealed the demon and it attacked the regular meeting. Mages from Fairy Tail had already been in hot pursuit of the demon. When the demon threatened the life of their master they turned it to ash. There was even a 'congratulations on your marriage Salamander' message at the bottom of the article.

There was an entirely separate article of Lucy wearing her Taurus star dress from the train station. It went on to introduce her as Lucy Dragneel, wife of the Salamander. A celestial spirit mage capable of magic that no one had ever known was possible. She vaguely remembered trying and failing to get Jason's attention when he came to interview the guild in one lifetime.

In this one she was already on the cover of the magazine and people were thanking her in the streets for helping get rid of the demon of Zeref. Lucy had no idea what to do anymore so she did what she always did – Lucy rolled with the crazy. She smiled and told everyone that thanked her that it was a team effort and that they didn't need to thank her for protecting her family.

Lucy wrote to her father about the magic council. She was worried since they hadn't done anything with all the attention that Fairy Tail was getting. The council was getting some seriously bad press since they had failed to protect the population. Jude wrote back telling her that while the council was furious over the fact that they technically owed Fairy Tail for picking up their slack and they still hated the guild.

However they couldn't cover up the fact that the guild did a pretty good job here. The guild had limited the damage more than the council thought possible and they managed to stop the demon. All in all they would have to wait and see what the council came up with. Since the event had been made so public they couldn't turn this around on the guild and blame them. They would have to acknowledge the guild in some way and it would have to be soon.

Lucy half expected the council to dismiss some Fairy Tails debts since they were always breaking things. Either they would dismiss the debts they already had or they would give the guild a donation which would go back to the council when the master paid all his debts. Even though Team Natsu was being careful about the damage they couldn't help the fact that destruction always followed them.

She barely realized that Macao had been missing due to the fact that she was spending so much time writing back and forth with her father. He also sent her detail notes on everything that he heard from the council. Jude wasn't really sure of everything that happened in their other lifetime but he had a list of some of their main enemies. He kept an ear out for their movements. Jude thought it would be best for Lucy to double check for anything that he might not know about or might have missed.

Lucy felt better knowing that she was able to look through their notes with her own eyes. There were several members of the council that were working with the Tartarus guild. It would have been impossible for the demons to keep such a low profile without someone from the inside providing them with some information. Honestly she didn't know what she was looking for exactly, she just knew that she would know it was important when she saw it.

Natsu took one look at his stressed out wife and went to drag the old man home to his son with Happy. Macao had taken that Vulcan job and he hadn't come home again. Lucy wasn't in the guild this time when Romeo had come asking about his father. Natsu decided to take Happy and drag the man home.

Happy on the other hand seemed a lot happier whenever Natsu would make some extra time for him. Natsu tried to make sure they either went on a small mission together or on a fishing trip at least once a month. That way he didn't feel neglected. However now that Carla was in the picture he wasn't so lonely when Natsu and Lucy were off in their own world. Happy would just go join Wendy and try to get his beloved to accept his fish as a token of his love for her.

Wendy would also often take the two exceeds on smaller jobs around Magnolia. She appreciated all the help that received from her parents and Aunt Erza and Uncle Gray but she still wanted to go on solo jobs. It was the only way she would gain experience and grow as a mage. Team Shadowgear often allowed her to go on jobs with them as well.

By the time Lucy remembered Macao, Natsu and Happy already brought him home. The man seemed sheepish when Natsu dumped him on the couch and called for Lucy to help bandage him up. Wendy was out on a mission with Levy. Lucy kissed Natsu and ignored the grumble of how Macao wanted to be welcomed home in the same manner. Natsu might have growled a little too loudly at the comment.

It was Natsu who remembered that they went on mission to find and destroy the Daybreak book. Lucy remembered that horrible man and instead of going and getting the book she just decided to have a look at his finances. He was a Baron which was technically the lowest title a noble could have. Her father was a Duke which meant that she could investigate his dealings.

When the foul man was found guilty of a number of crimes he was jailed. His lands seized and all his possessions were sold by order of the Royal family Lucy ensured that Kaby got his fathers book. Natsu was sort of disappointed that they didn't get to go for that mission but Lucy had more important things to deal with at the time.

Lucy just reminded Natsu that as long as the book was in the right hands it didn't matter how it happened. Besides the last time they went on that mission they didn't accept the reward. Kaby wasn't a very wealthy man and it wasn't right to make an even bigger deal out of the whole situation. All that mattered was that Kaby had the book now.

Lucy was keeping an eye on the council and the last thing her father was able to tell her was that the council was meeting and discussing something to do with the guild. They didn't know what was heading their way via the council because they changed everything. If they were discussing a reward it would have been done by now. The fact that they hadn't been able to reach an agreement worried her.

However they couldn't solve the next mission as easily as they had all the others. Natsu had Happy check out the request board on the second level. He was to look for a mission that involved Galuna Island and he had been checking daily. It seemed like yesterday it was put up by Mira. No one took it before but she couldn't be sure how long the request had been there before Natsu stole it the last time.

They had a vague idea of when they went on this mission so Lucy had kept Erza away from the second level for the past week. Juvia, Erza and Lucy had spent a lot of time getting to know each other, mock fighting and shopping. Lucy wanted Juvia to open up more and Erza was basically Gray's big sister. She wanted them to be able to fight well together but also to be good friends.

The other reason was because they wanted Erza to be in the guild when the request went up so they could ask her to take it and them. They couldn't steal the mission again. It would be best if they were all together and were working on the mission instead of fighting each other. This mission was important and it would also drop Gray to his lowest but he would also rise above his past and move onwards. They needed to do this right.

"Erza could you take team Natsu with you on an S-class request?" asked Lucy.

They were sitting in the guild and Gray already mentioned that they would need to do a job soon. He was running low on cash even though he basically lived with Natsu and Lucy. He always made a point to put in money for food or buy groceries since they were always there. It was only fair especially since Natsu had a kid to think about. He slept over at least twice a week so did Erza.

"Is there a reason you want to go on an S-class job Lucy?" asked Erza and Lucy just shrugged.

"Natsu was telling me about how Mira would take her siblings on S-class requests as back up. Elfman said that he learned a lot about being a mage working those jobs with Mira. I wanted to experience it and see how well I would do." Replied Lucy.

Gray even leaned forward to see what Erza would say and the red haired mage could see the excitement in his eyes as well. He was hoping she would agree to take them on a mission. Natsu was grinning at her in excitement and she couldn't help but smile at them.

Gray and Natsu had become very powerful during the training trips that they had taken. She had a feeling that she had not seen all of what Natsu was capable of yet but they were both S-class candidates this year. The other S-class mages were allowed to put forward names of mages they believed would pass the test but the final decision belonged to the master.

However this year, Erza and Mira already knew that both Natsu and Gray were ready for the trials. She knew that the master was even considering Lucy however he wasn't sure yet. He wanted to see more of what she was capable of before he made the decision.

Juvia was sitting with them and she was sought of smiling sadly thinking that she was going to be left out when Erza stood up, "Alright we'll go on an S-class request if Juvia comes as well."

"Me?" cried out Juvia and Lucy laughed. Natsu and Gray fist bumped.

Lucy put her hand on Juvia's shoulder, "We would have taken Wendy but since this is an S-class request I don't want to put her in so much danger. I believe Erza agrees that she isn't ready yet especially since we don't know what we might see. I want my daughter to keep some of her innocence. You were an S-class mage before you joined. I believe we're safer with the five of us plus Happy."

Erza moved towards the second floor when Natsu jumped up, "Can I pick it Erza?" he cried out and the master looked at the group.

"What's going on with you brats?" he asked and Erza explained that she agreed to take them on an S-class job.

Master Makarov narrowed his eyes at Natsu. He was extremely different since he had returned from his training trip and he was sure that Natsu was still masking a lot of power. Every time someone tried to bring it up they always got side tracked. He didn't know why Natsu wanted to hide so much of his power but he was also worried trying to figure out how he could have possibly powered up so much in such a short amount of time.

"Alright Natsu, you can choose one S-class request as long as Erza agrees to go on the request you pick." Said the master and Natsu all but jumped towards the board. He looked over the requests for a minute before grabbing one and all but jumping back towards Erza.

"Is this one alright? We can go right?" questioned Natsu.

Lucy was already smiling in amusement at how excited her husband was and she knew that this was his real reactions. He really was excited to be able to go up there and choose a request. It was something he was never able to do because they got rid of the S-class lounge after the Phantom attack. This time for some reason the master kept the S-class lounge in the new guild.

Erza read the flyer before frowning and passing the flyer to Gray so that he and Juvia could read it.

"I do not mind going. How about all of you?" she questioned.

Lucy nodded and Gray just shrugged, "Sounds interesting at least."

Lucy nearly sighed in relief that they all decided to go to a cursed island. She honestly wondered if mages were all a little crazy considering all the insane things they did for money. She couldn't help but wince at the thought of the Chief of the village telling Erza to destroy the moon. In the end she was just happy that she managed to get the job request accepted which meant that they would get paid the full reward. She checked the end of the page and there was no key as part of the reward this time.

Levy agreed to watch Wendy for them while they were away. The girl didn't need much supervision however Lucy felt better knowing that someone was keeping an eye on her. The group set off towards Hargeon the next morning since they would have to take a boat to get to the island. Lucy spotted Bobo and immediately asked him if he was willing to take the mages to the island.

The five of them piled onto his boat and Bobo explained that he once lived on Galuna Island. However one day the moon turned purple and the people in the village started turning into demons at night. He showed them his demonic looking arm and there were several sets of eyes that widened at the sight. He explained that some people were killed because they lost their minds. He left the island in fear. Bobo added in that he hoped that they would be able to lift the curse.

Natsu was passed out on Lucy's lap mumbled something which everyone ignored until Happy pointed out that he could see the island. Before anyone could do anything else a tidal wave appeared and Juvia immediately encased them all into her water lock. They crashed onto the beach but thanks to Juvia no one was really hurt.

They made camp since Erza had stored their luggage in her requip space. It was decided to wait until morning to find the village. They weren't sure how long they were on the boat for but it was already dark when they crashed onto the shore. No one wanted to walk through a cursed island looking for the village with so little light left.

In the morning, Natsu sniffed the air and pointed in a direction, "I smell fire and food in that direction."

Juvia was used to working with a dragon slayer. Gajeel would often scent the air as well when they needed to find someone or something. She set off in that direction without a single thought. Gray was the one who grabbed her arm, "You're just gonna head that way?"

Juvia smiled, "Juvia is used to working with dragon slayers. Gajeel-kun often tracks through scent as well. Has Gray-sama never seen Natsu-san track via scent?"

Erza stared at the blue haired woman in a little bit of surprise, "We always knew that Natsu had a good sense of smell but we never really realized that he could track in that sense."

Lucy giggled at the lost expression on Juvia's face, "They didn't think that Natsu would be able find the village just because he could smell their food and fire. They assumed he would need to know someones scent to find them."

Juvia looked towards Gray and Erza and found them both blushing slightly, "Gajeel-kun said that everything carries a scent. Every city and village smells differently but places where people are always have certain types of scents. Villages for example use fire to cook their food. On an island like this where there is only one village there will only be one place where there will be the smell of cooking food."

Erza nodded her head as they followed Natsu through the forest, "That actually makes a lot of sense. What do cities have in common Natsu?"

Natsu frowned at Erza, "Depends on how large it is. A place like Hargeon smells mostly like fish and the sea. Even the people that live there carry a saltier scent because they live so close to the sea. Magnolia smells like home. It has more stores as well so there are more scents. Its hard to explain."

Before they could question Natsu anymore they reached the village gates. This time instead of asking them to prove that they came from a guild, the villagers were already expecting them. They opened the gates and provided the mages with water and food after their long journey.

Erza spoke to the village chief in private and Lucy could see the frown on her face when she returned to the group. Gray looked at her in worry, "What did the chief say? What do we need to do to help these people?"

Erza sighed, "He says that the moon turned purple some time ago. When it happened the people of the village started turning into demons at sundown. Eventually they stopped being able to change back to human form and went mad. They were forced to kill some of them because they attacked them. They were afraid that the demons would kill them. The request is that we destroy the moon which he believes to be the source of the curse."

Gray's jaw dropped, "Please tell me you're not going to destroy the moon."

Juvia threw her hands into the air and cried out, "Its impossible to destroy the moon."

Erza nodded her head and Lucy finally decided to speak, "We all agree that even though the purple moon seems strange it can't be the reason for this happening. They say that the moon turned purple so why did that happen?"

Erza nodded her head, "That is a good question. If the purple moon is the source of the curse then what is the reason the moon turned purple?"

Natsu seemed to be scenting the air when he turned back to the group, "What do we know about the island? What's so special about the island that the moon turned purple and why only here? We were in Hargeon and the moon is normal there."

Erza smiled, both Gray and Natsu were thinking about this mission very logically. She had been quiet surprised when the village chief explained what had been done to the villagers before they got here. He had tried to lock them away but in the end he had been forced to kill his own son. These people were afraid and often fear led to irrational actions. The chief was desperate for this to end so he asked that they destroy the moon but she was sure that even he knew that it was an impossible task.

She was also interested in seeing how well the rest of the team adapted to the complications of this request. S-class requests were often left without a lot of information. The mage would have to do a lot investigating before they finally found what they had to fight. It could also be that they needed to fight mages and not know what magic they used or it would be a large beast attacking the town. The beast would be very powerful and that was the reason you would need to be an S-class mage.

Erza was proud at how well they were all handling the information that they were given so far. They were going through the little information that they had very logically trying to find a solution. No one was running off into danger without thinking their plans through either.

They had come a really long way especially Natsu. She was shocked that he hadn't attempted to destroy the moon. Then again it could have been because it was day time and Natsu couldn't see the moon so he didn't try to destroy it.

Erza shook herself out of her thoughts and declared, "We should search the island. Natsu is correct. The only place that is being affected is this island which means there has to be something here that is causing this curse."

Lucy looked towards the window. She could see the people of the village staring at the hut they were given with hope, longing and impatience. They wanted their nightmare to end which meant that they were betting everything on strangers they didn't even know.

"What should we tell them? We can't just stroll out of the village. They'll think we're abandoning them."

Juvia agreed with Lucy. The last thing they needed were angry villagers after them, "Juvia thinks we should tell them that we're going to explore the island. It is day time so we just return when the moon is out. Hopefully by then we'll have more information."

No one could argue with her logic and before long they packed some supplies and decided to look around the island. There wasn't much in the forest besides the trees and bugs. Lucy remembered that Sherry's rat attacked them the last time which was the reason why they ended up finding the temple. She wondered if that would happen again or if this would turn into a different mess.

Natsu stopped suddenly and started sniffing the air, "Natsu what do you smell?" questioned Lucy.

"Blood." Replied Natsu and Lucy froze. There shouldn't be any blood on the island. Lyon never hurt the villagers until he found out that Gray was on the island. No one ever got hurt during the moon drip ritual. The villagers hadn't even realized that there were strangers here because they kept out of sight.

Lucy actually spent some time studying the ritual once they returned home. Lyon only ever tapped into the basic power of the ritual which was to melt the ice. It was possible to do more but it depended on how the ritual was altered. The moon was a major source of energy if you used the correct magic to draw on its power. However she couldn't find any information on how the ritual could be changed.

"Can you tell where its coming from?" asked Erza and Natsu frowned.

He spun in circles a couple times, climbed a tree and then sniffed the ground. Juvia even looked a little concerned with his antics and muttered, "Gajeel-kun never did any of this."

Lucy sighed and grabbed him by the scarf, "Natsu whats going on?"

"There's too much blood. The scent I caught at first was very faint but then I realized that it was old blood. Its not just one person. Its a lot but I don't know where its coming from. Its everywhere on this part of the forest but the part of the forest that the villagers would hunt in is clear."

Gray's eyes widened, "Are you saying that someone else is on the island?"

Natsu nodded, "A lot of people have to be here. I don't understand what they're doing with this much blood though. I can't track it. There's too many scents."

Before anyone could comment on the latest bit of information that they had been given a 20 foot rat attacked them. Lucy had actually forgotten how large the rat had been and Juvia took one look at it and shrieked, "Water nebula."

The amount of water that Juvia hit the rat with sent it crashing through a tree. However it didn't keep the rat down for long. All it did was make it mad. The rat threw itself towards them and they all scattered. Gray iced over the floor which gave them time to get away from the creature but Erza seemed worried.

"That is not something that should be on this island. It isn't native to this place." She said.

Lucy on the other hand was just grateful that she managed to spot the temple and that they were away from that rat. There were so many levels of creepy, scary and terrifying that she had seen in her life time and that rat was just wrong.

"Is that supposed to be here?" asked Lucy.

The group entered the temple and Happy peeked out of Natsu's bag. He had been sleeping in there while they explored the forest. Lucy left Happy to float around for a few moments while she translated the carvings on the walls of the temple.

Juvia stared at the opposite wall from Lucy, "These are all various phases of the moon."

Erza frowned deeply and turned to Lucy, "Have you managed to figure anything out?"

Lucy nodded, "This used to a temple where people would worship and draw on the power of the moon."

Gray walked a little further into the temple looking to see if there were anymore cravings on the wall, "This island seems to be obsessed with the moon. Everything that we have come across relates to it in some way."

Erza nodded her head at him. Lucy, Natsu, Juvia and Erza all followed Gray deeper into the temple and Erza muttered, "This place looks like it hasn't been used in a long time. I don't believe the villagers would have come here."

Before anyone could say anything else there was a loud creaking sound and the ground beneath their feet crumbled. Happy grabbed onto the closest person to him which happened to be Erza and flew her down to the rest of the group.

Natsu dove and caught Lucy while she was falling. Gray landed flat on his face with Juvia on his back. Natsu back flipped through the falling stones with Lucy in his arms and landed on his feet. Erza was set down by Happy. Gray groaned and Juvia immediately helped him to his feet. The group stared at the different tunnels that were in front of them.

Erza tapped one of the green looking crystals that were growing everywhere, "This is magic lacrima. It is raw and has not been mined but I believe it grew by absorbing the magic from the moonlight."

The crystals gave off a glow which allowed them see inside the caves just barely. Natsu was holding a ball of fire in his hand as he turned in circles with an angry expression on his face.

"What is it Natsu?" questioned Lucy.

Natsu sniffed the air again, "There's blood here, lots of human blood."

Lucy shared a worried look with her husband. So far the request hadn't gone too far out of what they expected it to be. They hadn't run into any trouble and no one was injured but this was a strange new development. There shouldn't be any blood down here and Lucy couldn't think of a reason as to why this happened.

She knew that things would change with their interference. Nothing would happen the same way twice but this was something she couldn't explain. She didn't know what change had led to this part of the mission being different. Something had happened, some choice had been altered and it led to whatever was going on here. She couldn't help the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her that this was only going to get worse.

Natsu led them towards a cave where the stench of blood was the strongest. He stopped at a fork in the road and Lucy was completely sure that through the right tunnel would be Deliora. Natsu however was glaring at the smaller cave on the left. They never went inside that cave but now it seemed like something important was happening there.

"There are two scents here. One of blood coming from the left cave and there is another scent coming from that cave. I think its people and I smell ice." Said Natsu.

Erza narrowed her eyes, "Gray and Juvia can go check out the cave on the right. The three of us will see if we can find the source of the blood."

Lucy stared at the cave in front of her in horror. There was a blood red magic circle on the floor and the body of man wearing a black cloak. It seemed like his blood was being funneled through this cave and into the next one.

"What is this?" asked Natsu.

Erza looked at the magic circle in disgust, "Its sacrificial blood magic, illegal magic that has been out lawed for many years by the magic council."

Lucy bit her lip as she stared at the trail of blood leading into the next cave, "What does it do?"

Erza shrugged, "This magic is highly unstable. It is supposed to be able to transfer life energy from one living creature to another."

Lucy's eyes widened in horror as Natsu turned to move towards the next cave. Someone was trying to make sure that once the ice that held Deliora melted the demon inside would be alive once more.

"We need to know what they're trying to keep alive." Said Natsu as he ran towards Gray and Juvia.

Gray stood in front of the frozen monster in horror. Juvia seemed to be trying to get him to talk to her but he seemed lost in his own head. Lucy stared at the demon in the ice. It was dark blue in color with horns on his head and spikes on his torso and around his neck. His hands were scaly and his feet resembled a birds but he was even bigger than she remembered. He was at least 70 feet tall, bigger than some buildings.

However unlike the last time they saw this creature wrapped in ice there was a blood red magic circle under his feet. There were thick red lettering that covered the ice and wrapped around the demons body. The red was probably the blood magic from the cave to the left. They were breathing life into Deliora ensuring that once the ice melted it would survive.

"Gray what the hell are you doing staring at that?" shouted out Natsu.

Gray turned and stared at his friends. He started talking quickly, needing them to understand the true horror of what they were looking at and needing them to know that they had to do something.

"Deliora is a demon created by Zeref. He attacked my home town and killed everyone including my parents. I would have died as well but I was found by my mentor Ur. She took me with her and agreed to teach me ice make magic. Eventually I heard rumors that Deliora was attacking another town. Ur begged, pleaded and threatened me not to go after him. She warned me that I wasn't ready but I didn't listen. She followed me and saved my life. She cast a spell called iced shell. It turns your body to ice and it imprisoned Deliora inside it."

Erza listened grimly at the story, "The magic council would have sealed this away. Someone moved it here to this temple. The cave next to this one is the reason for red magic circle. Someone has been sacrificing people using blood magic trying to breathe life into a dead monster. I don't understand."

Lucy was the one who answered her, "I read about iced shell a long time ago. It is a prison that costs your life Erza. It is possible that within the ice the creature within would die but no one is certain. Whatever they're doing in this temple we know one thing for sure. They want Deliora alive."

Gray growled, "Iced shell is ice that cannot be melted. Even if they give the demon life inside the ice, its still trapped."

Before anyone could comment on that piece of information a purple magic circle opened up above the ice and bathed Deliora in purple moonlight. Natsu stared at the magic circle, they didn't run into Lyon's lackeys and if the ritual was working again it meant that it was night time. They had spent much more time in the temple than they realized.

"Moon drip." Breathed Lucy and everyone turned to stare at her again, "It's a ritual that can melt iced shell. You use the immense power of the moon to melt the ice."

Gray lost it. He ran upwards, trying to find the idiot responsible for trying to kill his mentor. Natsu shook his head, "Juvia and I will go after him. I smell other people in this place. Ones that aren't from the village and the scent is getting stronger. Someone is coming here."

Erza and Lucy nodded, "We'll see what we can learn from them and you stop Gray from doing anything stupid."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20 – Galuna Island Part two

Gray raced towards whoever was stupid enough to try and free Deliora. They didn't understand what they were dealing with. That demon was called the Demon of Destruction for a reason. He left a trail of destroyed towns, cities and bodies. There were countless people who had been left homeless and without their families due to him. Deliora was a mindless beast whose only purpose was to bring death.

He had been blinded by vengeance once. He couldn't see past what he had lost to Deliora to the family that he had managed to create out of the ashes of his destruction. Ur was strong, stronger than anyone he had ever met. She had lost her daughter and she still found the strength to move forwards. She gave her life to seal that demon away. Her sacrifice was because of him but he wouldn't let anyone taint what she had done. It was his selfishness and his blindness that led her to make the decision she had taken but he would not let her sacrifice go in vain.

He reached the inside of the temple and saw another purple magic circle inside the temple. It sort of made sense that the ritual would probably be happening higher up. He was about to take off towards the roof of the temple when Juvia grabbed onto his arm.

"Let me go. I have to stop this." He cried out as he pushed Juvia away harshly.

Juvia was stunned for a moment until she remembered Lucy. Her friend had warned her that Gray was still young and searching for himself. He wasn't ready to be with someone because he didn't know who he was as a person yet. Right now, in this moment Juvia understood what Lucy meant because now she was looking at a lost little boy.

A boy who had lost his town, friends and family to a demon that no one could stop. He was just a boy who had been found and taught by a woman that he greatly admired and respected only to lose her as well. She could see the angry little boy who wanted to hurt the monster that had taken everything from him. She could see the boy who went up against something that he could not defeat only to be saved once more by the same woman.

She saw regret and helplessness because he had wanted to die as well. He went after the demon knowing that either he would somehow manage to kill the demon or the demon would kill him. He had once made peace with that decision until someone stepped in front of him and certain death. He blamed himself. Now the man that he had become was losing himself to the same emotions. He was pushing away those who cared for him because he felt unworthy of that love.

Never before had Juvia ever understood another person the way she could see Gray in this moment. It was more than the fact that she saw his past in his eyes. She was able to see every bad thought he ever had in his mind. She was able to see his guilt and remorse but she could also see the man he would become. He was strong because he would bear his sins. He would not crumble in the face of his past because she wouldn't let him face it alone.

Juvia clenched her jaw. She wouldn't let him so she grabbed onto him again. Gray was shouting again and Juvia couldn't help the tears that came to her eyes. Her heart ached for the lost little boy who had lost everything twice. However it was time to grow up, she wouldn't let him throw his life away. Gray gripped her shoulders and shouted again. Juvia raised her hand and slapped him across the face.

"Are you calm now Gray-sama?" questioned Juvia.

Gray looked at the blue haired woman in front of him. He was lost and confused and now his cheek was stinging from the force of her slap but he did realize that he was calm.

"Juvia doesn't care what you think you need to do or who you think you are. Juvia knows who you are and Juvia will come with you. Juvia will stand by your side to fight against your demons but only if Gray-sama is thinking rationally. Juvia will not let Gray-sama walk to his death."

Natsu was going to punch Gray in the face until he noticed that things were sort of tense between him and Juvia. They were having some sort of moment. He couldn't understand why Gray was losing it now. He was pretty sure the only time that Gray really went off the rails was when he realized that it was Lyon behind this drama but now he seemed terrified and angry all at the same time. He wasn't thinking clearly and the last time he got his ass kicked by Lyon because he couldn't think properly.

Natsu frowned the only thing that was different was the fact that they knew someone was trying to unseal Deliora and make sure it was alive. The last time they found out about the moon drip ritual was when Gray was dealing with the fact that Lyon was the one behind everything. Gray now had an idea of what these people had come here to do and his anger was blinding him.

Gray was losing it because he knew what was happening with the demon. He didn't know who he was going to face yet but he was still charging in head first. It was almost like he didn't care if he made it out to the other side. He almost forgot how much of a martyr Gray could be thinking that his death wouldn't matter as long as he accomplished his goal.

Then Juvia slapped him and Natsu bit his fist so that he wouldn't start laughing like a loon. He couldn't wait to tell Lucy what her influence on Juvia had led too. The Juvia that he had known would never had done something like that but at the same time he could literally see Gray coming back to his senses.

He resisted the urge to chuckle, even now Juvia was his strength. Natsu wondered when Gray would figure it out. Then again he hadn't realized jack shit about Lucy until the very last second. Natsu was proud of Juvia. She was no longer following behind Gray blind to his faults. She saw them. Natsu was sure that she always had. She just never had the courage to call him out on it until now.

Gray blushed as he stared at her and then dropped his head in shame. He had run off alone with no idea what he was getting himself into on an S-class request. That was rookie mistakes and it was also begging someone to kill him and toss him off a cliff for being an idiot.

He had come here with his friends. His decisions had consequences and he had to think a little more clearly before someone got hurt. Before someone else made the same choice Ur made to protect him from himself.

"I'm sorry and thank you Juvia." He mumbled to her and Juvia smiled gently.

"Juvia knows that this hard for Gray-sama but Juvia will not abandon Gray-sama. Let's see if we can find out who is behind this shall we?"

Juvia walked forward with her head held high almost as if she were radiating confidence. Natsu strolled up to him and raised an eyebrow, "I thought I was supposed to be the hot head."

"Shut up fire freak." He mumbled and Natsu instead of letting their insults decline into a fight chuckled and started climbing the stairs, "Come on and be quieter would you? I hear people up there."

Meanwhile Erza and Lucy were waiting behind the rocks to see who would approach. Erza watched Lucy out of the corner of her eyes. Lucy was very knowledgeable about a lot of rare magics. However Erza realized that it wasn't just magic that she understood. She had a vast knowledge of history and languages. Lucy admitted when they first met that her father never wanted her to be a mage and she had not been trained in magic from a young age.

Lucy had been raised as an heiress which meant that she had access to nearly any book she would have wanted. She learned the history of magic and languages because it was the closest thing that she would find which was related to magic. Natsu had been the one who taught her how to fight and her spirits taught her magic. She was doing very well in this mission so far.

"I'm telling you someone beat up Angelica." Cried out a stranger.

The two women shared a look as they stared at the three people in the cave. There was a woman with pink hair, a man with dog ears and another guy with a spikey blue hair. Erza didn't catch the full conversation but she did hear the pink haired woman refer to someone named 'Reitei' who seemed to be the boss of this whole operation.

The man with the blue hair frowned at the demon in the ice, "I still say we should investigate that red magic circle."

The man with the dog ears growled, "Reitei doesn't care about it as long as the ice melts and frees the demon."

The woman with pink hair frowned for a moment, "It's probably just part of the ritual. Lets go, there's nothing here."

The man with the blue hair walked away muttering about the different colors of the magic circles and how none of the research he had done spoke about another magic circle. He also sounded like he was mad that they wouldn't let him investigate the other tunnels.

Lucy and Erza waited for them to leave before they spoke, "This Reitei person seems to be the person who started the moon drip ritual however they do not know about the sacrifices."

Lucy frowned, "How could they not know? I mean they had to have been here for some time now. If they come down here all the time to check on the ice wouldn't they have noticed it before?"

Erza shrugged, "That magic is some of the worst kind out there. It doesn't work unless you willingly sacrifice your own life and even then it still might backfire on you. We found one set of enemies however I do not believe that they fully understand what is going on here either. It seems like whoever they work for does not care about anything but the success of freeing Deliora."

Happy had been hiding in a smaller cave further into the tunnels. He waited for the strange mages to pass him by and then he flew back to Erza and Lucy.

"They're heading back to the top of the temple." Said Happy.

Erza had been investigating the tunnel to the left while Lucy and Happy waited for the other mages to arrive. She found footsteps leading out into the forest and away from the temple. These people had come from the opposite direction. Happy confirmed the direction they took once they left which meant her theory was correct.

Erza frowned, "There are two groups here. One group is using the moon drip ritual to melt the ice to free Deliora but the other group is funneling life energy to the creature trapped inside the ice. The group using the moon drip hasn't left the temple from the looks of things. They haven't even bothered to check the other tunnels which means that the other group must know that they're here."

Lucy nodded her head, "It would make sense. The group using the blood sacrifices were able to operate without being seen. They know that someone is using moon drip on Deliora. For some reason they don't want anyone to know that they're here or that they're using their own magic on the demon. They're ensuring that when Deliora is freed it will be at full power."

Erza didn't like how many things they were dealing with on this mission. She couldn't help but feel a little glad that they brought this many people with them. It would seem like they had many enemies to deal with until they could save the villagers.

As far as she could tell there were at least a group of four people involved in the moon drip ritual. They sought to melt the ice that encased the demon for a reason that was unknown to them. Then there was a second group of an unknown number of people.

If Natsu was correct then there were a lot of people in that group. People who were killing themselves and letting their life force drain into that demon. Erza wasn't even sure if it what they were doing was possible. Any account of blood magic was burned by temples and priests a long time ago. The little information they did have revealed a number of different results.

This second group of people had gone through a lot of trouble to make sure that no one realized that they were there. They were dealing with two groups of people trying to release a demon without any idea to what they wanted to do with said demon. They had come across many different types of magic as well but none of it explained why the moon turned purple.

"Why would they not work together? Both groups seek to release the creature from the ice so why would one group hide what they're doing from the other group." Erza asked the question out loud wanting to see if Lucy had any theories.

Lucy bit her lip, "We can't answer that until we talk to one of the leaders here. If we can find out why one of these groups want to free the demon maybe we can figure out whats happening on this island. The others went upstairs and they're heading in the same direction. We need more information and sneaking around isn't going to get us anywhere anymore."

Lucy, Erza and Happy met up with Gray, Natsu and Juvia at the top of the temple. The two groups compared notes until Gray clenched his jaw so tight that Lucy could have sworn his teeth must have cracked. The man in the mask that they were referring to as Reitei ordered the three other mages to go and destroy the village.

"Lyon." Hissed out Gray and without thinking he jumped up and sent out an ice spear towards the man.

Lyon jumped backwards, easily avoiding the spear and taking off his mask. He snarled at Gray and Lucy could see the madness in his eyes. She wondered how the hell he ended up like this. If all Gray ended up with was a weird stripping habit then she was glad Fairy Tail got the sane student of Ur. To her it seemed like Lyon was drinking from the crazy cup for a bit too long.

"Well I didn't think I would find you here Gray. Its been a while hasn't it?"

The question almost sounded friendly until he threw out his hand and encased Erza in ice. Gray tried not groan out loud. He lost his cool and now Erza was in danger. If he hadn't been so impatient they could have come up with a plan. His hands iced over as he created ice spikes on the floor, forcing Lyon to jump out of the way. When he landed, Gray exploded his ice covering the floor.

"Natsu get Erza out of here before he destroys the ice." Called out Gray putting a shield in front of his friends.

Erza frowned and tried to requip only to find her magic sealed, "I can get out of this Gray."

Gray shook his head, "Lyon is the elder student of Ur. He can explode his ice like me but with you encased in it your body will shatter with the ice. Natsu get her out of his magic range."

Natsu nodded, grabbed onto Erza's hands and sent of a stream of fire from his feet which allowed him to fly. He couldn't keep it up for long because it burned though his magic but it would get them out of the way for now.

Erza narrowed her eyes as Natsu headed towards the bottom of the mountain. She decided to leave Lyon and his friends to Gray and the others. She pointed in the direction that she believed the second group of mages would be in and told Natsu, "Head that way. I think there's more enemies there."

"Happy, Lucy and Juvia go after those three and protect the village. I have a score to settle with Lyon."

Lucy tapped into her ability to fly using the Gemini star dress and flew towards the village. Juvia was about to get a lift from Happy when she told him to wait for her for a minute.

Gray jumped over the shield, his hands ready to attack when Lyon trapped him inside an ice make: diamond cage.

Juvia attacked him with water nebula buying Gray time to get out of the cage. Juvia grabbed Gray's arm and put her forehead to his, "Stop blaming yourself Gray-sama. Accept the past and move forward, it is the only way Gray-sama will be able to save him now. Live onwards because Fairy Tail needs Gray-sama. Juvia will be waiting for Gray-sama to come home."

Once she was done she turned to Happy who flew her in the direction that Lucy was headed in. She knew that Gray wasn't thinking clearly which meant that he would lose the fight. However she hoped that he would hear her words and remember that he couldn't leave them.

Lyon scoffed, "You live on so shamelessly Gray even though you know its your fault Ur is dead."

Gray finally focused on the present. This life of his was protected by his parents and then by Ur. He hadn't asked for it. He didn't want anyone to die for him or to save but they did. He couldn't throw that away because that meant throwing away their sacrifices. He would live for the sake of the people that he had loved and lost and for those who were waiting for him to home.

Gray attacked Lyon with ice geyser and shook his head, "I do as Ur asked me to do. She told me to go west and that there would be many powerful mages here. I joined a guild and I grew stronger. I promised her I would live and so I do. You tarnish her sacrifice."

Lyon went nuts attacking him with ice eagle and then gorilla. Gray jumped over the gorilla and got hit by the eagles. He nearly forgot that Lyons magic was dynamic which meant it could move. He shook off his shirt and grimaced at the bruises that those eagles left.

"My dream was to become stronger than Ur. You ruined that when you killed her but now I have grown stronger than Ur. I will defeat the monster that she couldn't and I will surpass her." Shouted Lyon and Gray sighed. He remembered Lyon was the one who always wanted to get stronger. Gray never understood his obsession with surpassing Ur.

He iced over the floor and then caused several ice walls to appear as Lyon moved backwards, "Don't think so highly of yourself. You don't even use both hands when creating anymore."

Lyon growls at Gray and sends a snow dragon to attack him while boasting, "I am now above such school boy antics."

Gray shakes his head at Lyon while dodging the snow dragon, "You say I killed Ur and you are right. It was my choices which led her to use iced shell. Master Makarov told me that the ice could not be melted because for as long as it was whole Ur still lived. Her body became the ice and if you melt it then you'll be the one who kills her."

Lyon unleashes a blitz claiming, "That hunk of ice isn't Ur. I don't care about it. All I care about is making sure that I surpass Ur."

Gray felt the shaking beneath his feet and he knew that they were running out of time to stop the ritual. Gray shielded against the attack when Lyon attacks with a snow tiger. Gray imprisons the tiger and shakes his head Lyon, "One handed creations are out of balance. They will fail you when it matters most. That is what Ur taught to us."

Gray hit him with Ice cannon and managed to win the fight when the roar of Deliora was heard throughout the entire island.

Lucy landed in the village with Juvia not far behind here. She remembered that Sherry and the others would choose to try and drop poison on the village. However she remembered that the Chief would refuse to leave his sons grave and to be quiet honest Lucy didn't have the patience to deal with him right now. There was something happening on this island that they had no idea about and it terrified her. People had already died and she knew that Lyon had nothing to do with it.

Juvia landed next to her with a tiny frown on her face. She was worried about Gray but for some reason Lucy was sure that Gray wouldn't lose to Lyon. It wouldn't turn out the same way it had the last time. She needed him to kick some sense into Lyon because they had bigger problems to deal with here.

"You need to evacuate the village now." Said Lucy and the chief started ranting about destroying the moon. Juvia's eyes narrowed at the man who had already turned into his demonic form.

"You will be quiet and do as Juvia nakama demands. Your son would never forgive if you died in front of his grave." Snarled out the blue haired woman.

The chief refused to back down so she punched him into unconsciousness. She picked him up and turned to his people, "There are many strangers on this island. They brought a demon from the books of Zeref here. They seek to set him free and they will destroy the village in the process. Go take him and hide in the forest. Once we deal with the people on the island we will deal with the curse."

Lucy stared at the blue haired woman in front of her. She knew that Happy was snickering somewhere behind them while munching on a fish but she had never seen Juvia like this. She was strong and confident and Lucy couldn't help but feel proud of her. She always knew that Juvia was strong but she had never shown that strength. She was always lost in her own world filled with jealously and possessiveness towards Gray.

However in this moment Juvia was trusting Gray to win his fight and he had left her to protect the village. That meant that Juvia would not let anything or anyone stand in the way of her beloveds wish. Lucy was so proud of the woman in front of her. Unfortunately she didn't get the chance to let her know because Sherry and her friends were back and they bought the bucket filled with poison.

The village was cleared out and Lucy bit her lip as she pulled out her whip, "I'll take the girl and the rat. Think you can handle those two guys?"

Juvia already spread her legs and got ready to dish out some punishment, "Juvia can handle this much."

The pink haired girl giggled, "Do you hear that? They think they can take us on."

Lucy just raised an eyebrow, "Who are you guys?"

"Sherry, Yuka and Toby, we were once members of the guild Lamia Scale. However now we serve Lyon-sama." Explained Sherry and Lucy just shook her head.

"Lets get this done. I need to find my husband." Muttered Lucy and Sherry went a little crazy muttering something about love and how Lucy didn't deserve it.

Lucy called out Loke and pointed to the rat. There was a large flash of light and the rat was left unconscious thanks to Loke. Sherry took control of Loke and Lucy forced his gate closed.

Sherry created a rock doll and Lucy changed into her Taurus star dress. She went through the rock, set her whip on fire and wrapped it around Sherry's neck. She plant her feet and used earth wave while Sherry was wrapped up in her whip. She was left unconscious in a crater and the rat was out cold.

This island was officially giving her a creepy feeling and she was not playing anymore. She wanted to find her team and she wanted to be standing next to Natsu where she knew everything would be alright. By the time she returned to the village Toby was unconscious. It seemed like he had poisoned himself on his own claws somehow. Yuka on the other hand was trapped in Juvia's water lock. It didn't take much longer for him to fall unconscious.

"Are you okay Juvia?" asked Lucy.

Juvia nodded her head. She had a few scrapes and bruises. She had trouble getting past Yuka's nullifying magic however she was able to catch him off guard and wrapped him in her water lock. It didn't take her much longer to take down Toby. That guy was an idiot and she was able to trick him into injecting himself with his claws.

"What should we do now? Should we look for the others or wait here?" asked Juvia.

Before Lucy could come up with an idea they heard a terrifying roar that spread out throughout the entire island. Deliora was awake. Lucy panicked he shouldn't have woken up so soon.

Deliora should have had at least one more day trapped in the ice and at least six more hours under the moon drip before he could be freed. Either they came here late or for some reason the ice melted faster than it did the last time.

On the other side of the forest Erza and Natsu landed on the outside of the temple. Erza still encased in Lyon's ice and unable to requip out of it struggled to walk properly. Natsu gathered heat into his hands and melted through certain parts of the ice until it finally crumbled and freed her.

Erza noticed Natsu frowning at the ice around their feet and asked, "Is something wrong?"

Natsu just shrugged, "Gray's ice is stronger than that but I smell a lot scents here. They don't smell like they belong on this island."

Erza nodded her head, "I noticed tracks leading out of the temple. While Gray and the others deal with Lyon I thought it would be best if we found out who else is on this island."

Natsu nodded and Erza tried to follow tracks into the forest until she couldn't see them anymore, "Is there any scent here that you can track? I can't see the tracks anymore."

Natsu shook his head, "Too many people to find a scent but we can follow the sound."

Erza closed her eyes and strained her ears. She couldn't hear anything other than the sounds that you typically find in a forest, "Natsu what do you hear?"

Natsu grabbed her hand and started tugging her in a direction, "A guitar. I hear a guitar."

They walked for a few minutes before Erza was finally able to hear the faint sounds of a guitar wailing. She grimaced at the sound. To her it sounded like noise not music. She was pretty sure that if there were windows on this island the glass would shatter. As they got closer to a cave she could feel the ground tremble from the vibrations of the music underneath her feet.

Natsu and Erza looked around the campsite. There was a fire pit not far from the entrance of the cave and a couple of sleeping bags on the ground. It looked like someone had set up their camp here but Erza didn't see anyone. The music continued and it came from inside the cave. They knew that there was at least one person inside the cave.

"There are three people here. I can pick out their scents. Its strong here but there are also others." Said Natsu as Erza looked around the perimeter of the camp site.

Erza looked at him, "What do you mean three people?"

Natsu shrugged, "I think they're bringing people here and then taking them to the temple. The three scents that are here have been here for a long time now. They've been staying on the island. The other scents are fainter and then covered by blood."

Erza narrowed her eyes towards the cave, "They're keeping an eye on the ritual and they keep bringing willing sacrifices to the island. As long as the moon drip ritual is activated they will keep sacrificing people to the demon."

Before they could say something there was a loud screech which hit them from the back. Natsu and Erza went flying through the bushes that they were hiding in and landed in front of the cave. A man of average height with long black hair stood in front of them. He had a large hooked nose and hairy eyebrows pointing upwards in spikes. He wore dark eye makeup and had a tattoo on his chest reading 'skeletoy' with shoulder pads and arm bands with spikes on them.

Natsu didn't recognize him and he was pretty sure that he never fought this guy. Erza just stared at him, he had blasted them out of the bushes using his guitar.

"Well now what do we do with you?"

Before either one of them could reply a woman with pink hair and green eyes walked out of the cave. The woman wore a white kimono and she seemed very calm and relaxed.

"You do nothing. I will deal with them." She said and Erza stared at the two people.

"Who are you people? What is your purpose here?" asked Erza and the pink haired woman turned and stared at her.

The woman stared at her for a few minutes until her lips curved into a smirk, "Could you be the Titania, Fairy Tails Queen Erza Scarlet?"

Erza didn't say anything even though she didn't know why people insisted on calling her by that title, "I am Erza Scarlet."

The woman laughed, "Well now this has gotten pretty interesting. We were hired to come here and ensure that nothing interrupted the ritual."

Natsu shuffled a little on the ground and stared up at her, "For what and who are you?"

The woman shrugged delicately, "I am Ikaruga, the leader of Trinity Raven."

Natsu just stared at her with a lost look on his face but Erza recognized the name, "You're a member of the dark guild Death's Head Caucus. Who hired you and for what purpose? Your team specializes in assassination requests. Why would you stay for so long on this island?"

Ikaruga frowned for a moment, "I will admit the job has been dreadfully dull so far. However we were ordered by our master to stay here until the demon is freed."

Erza narrowed her eyes, "You master? What does your guild have to do with what's happening here?"

Ikaruga shook her head, "You misunderstand. Our master owed a favor to a man that your guild has now put into jail. He knew that demon had been sealed away due to him being in a position of power until your guild destroyed him. The magic council knew that the Demon went missing however they kept it quiet believing that no one would be able to undo iced shell."

Natsu stared at her. This never happened before and he finally remembered this dark guild. They had been employed by Jellal when he went nuts at the Tower of Heaven. They were missing a member currently but they weren't supposed to be here yet.

It seemed like without a job from Jellal they somehow ended up here. However Natsu still didn't understand how they came to this island but it seemed to be because they had put someone in jail. Someone that wouldn't have been in jail when this happened the first time they came to the island however he couldn't be sure as to which enemy she was referring to because the fact was that Fairy Tail had many enemies.

"Who is this man you speak off? Why did he send you here?" asked Erza growing impatient with the woman's answers. She seemed to be giving out her information in pieces and prolonging their conversation just because she wanted too. An annoying woman Natsu resisted the urge to growl at her.

"He told the master where to find a group of Zeref worshippers. They were people who would be willing to sacrifice their lives to his demon. Our job was to simply bring the sacrifices to the temple and ensure that no one interfered with the process."

Ikaruga turned away from them and Natsu slammed a flaming fist into the ground, "Why?"

The woman turned and stared at him in shock. Everyone stared at him in shock as the magic pressure surrounding him grew. Erza felt her eyes widened this pressure was far greater than her own power.

"They wanted the demon alive. Jose knew that iced shell would steal away Deliora's life force. He had been trapped there for over a decade which meant that it was likely he was already dead or clinging onto its last moments. We arrived about six months ago. Our job was simply to ensure that the monster would be at full power once the fool managed to release it."

Erza gasped, "Jose Porla? The ex-wizard saint and Phantom Lord's old master?"

Ikaruga took a breath and centered herself, "Yes. My master owed him a favor for something he overlooked in the past. Our guild was able to operate because he didn't report us. Jose knew that the person who took the demon had a past with someone in the Fairy Tail guild. He wasn't sure but he bet everything that your members would be here. It was a last ditch attempt at revenge."

Natsu wanted to punch himself in the face as the pieces fell into place. Jose would have been a part of the decision to keep the fact that they lost Deliora from the public. Even if he hadn't had an active hand in it, he would have been able to find out. The man had used much of his power and influence as a wizard saint to dig up some information on his enemies. Information that he used to lure them into traps so that he could defeat them.

Jose would have researched Deliora and the circumstances which surrounded the creature being trapped in the ice. Ur had been a powerful mage and the fact that she had two students wasn't a secret. The only reason why no one in the guild really knew was because they never pried into anything that their members didn't want to share.

He would have found out that Gray Fullbuster was one of the students that she taught. When he found out that Lyon was the one who wanted to unseal the demon he thought he would be able to use the information to his advantage. It was a card he never managed to play in the other time line because they had already dealt with Deliora by the time Phantom Lord attacked the guild.

Jose wouldn't have been sure that this card would have worked. He never had a reason to play the card before because he had still been planning his attack on Fairy Tail. When Jude interfered with his business Jose set his sights on silencing the rich man. A man who had run to his daughter who happened to be a Fairy Tail mage which pushed him into a war early. A war that he lost and while in prison he finally played his last card.

He ensured that Deliora would awaken with life. If he was correct then Fairy Tail would get involved when Gray either went after Lyon or Deliora. If he was wrong and Fairy Tail wasn't involved, the magic council would have to put together a team to take down the demon. Fairy Tail was one of the strongest guilds in the country. They would lead the assault on the demon no matter what happened.

Jose was just looking to cause as much terror and chaos as he could while he was locked up. A terrifying roar was heard throughout the island and Natsu just closed his eyes as he listened to that roar. Deliora was free and Natsu could hear him. The demon was awake and full of power.

Erza on the other hand scowled at the two mages in front of them. They had been buying time. They knew that the ritual would be finished today. They kept their attention on them and it allowed the ritual enough time to free the demon.

In three different locations on the island there was only one thing going through the mind of every Fairy Tail mage, 'What do we do now?'

AN- Ok this arc has taken on a life of its own and I cannot stop writing. I hope you guys like the changes I made and here you guys go a quick update.


	21. Chapter 21

AN: So someone asked about whether anyone would be suspicious about Lucy and Natsu's knowledge about everything that is going on. I have been very careful to make sure that everything unfolds without too much interference from them. The guild will question Natsu on his huge power up (soon) its not something that he can hide. People have noticed that the power up is unusual so I'm not gonna ignore it forever. I just wanted to address it when I was ready.

As for Lucy's knowledge – in canon Lucy is very intelligent. She read about Lullaby and was able to tell Erza about the magic flute when they first meet. This means that she does have knowledge about magic that the others don't. It would make sense that she would have researched the stuff that she came across with her team. Lucy is intelligent so I don't think its completely ooc of her to know a lot about magic and history.

A couple of people were surprised that I involved Jose. I didn't just want rewrite the arcs and I really wanted Fairy Tail to face off against Deliora. Its not something that I have ever seen on fanfiction and I had a lot of ideas about how I could play out this fight. The reason I used Jose was because the only way Deliora would come back was with some major magic.

Also the revenge angle using Jose isn't very farfetched. We don't see him again but we can assume that he was imprisoned. I believe if he had any knowledge on anything that could cause the downfall of Fairy Tail he would have played the card. The situation just needed to be desperate enough. In canon by the time Jose was taken down he didn't have any cards left to play.

We know the wizard saints have access to a lot of dangerous information. Jellal knew a lot of stuff from his time in the council. It isn't impossible to assume that Jose might have known about Deliora. Besides I don't think that Jose would have quietly just disappeared if he had the information.

By bringing the phantom lord arc in earlier I was able to make it sensible that he would be able to interfere with the Galuna island arc. You can't seriously think that the magic council just lost a demon and didn't do anything about it.

Blood sacrifices are kind of dark since a lot people are now dead. I didn't have any other ideas on how to bring Deliora back to life and its not something Lyon would do. I don't wanna ruin his future character by dropping him that low. I also wanted to involve Trinity Raven. I have essentially destroyed the Tower of Heaven arc so I wanted to involve them since Ikaruga was an important enemy for Erza to face.

Chapter 21 – Galuna Island Part 3

Lucy froze and as soon as the roar stopped they heard what sounded like stone crumbling. Happy picked up Juvia and Lucy flew into the air. The two women stared in the direction of the temple. It was crumbling and out of the shadow of the crumbling temple something was walking out. Something that almost seemed to be growing larger as it moved.

"Gray-sama." Cried Juvia and Lucy turned sharply to the woman next to her. She had tears in her eyes and Lucy could feel her own heart beating fast as panic began to take over her mind.

Gray was still in that crumbling temple. He and Lyon would have been fighting inside that bloody temple when Deliora had been freed from the ice. It was highly possible that Gray and Lyon would be crushed by falling debris or Deliora himself. They needed to get there and find them both. Lucy started heading in the direction of the temple with Happy and Juvia close behind her.

The creature seemed to be moving slowly but it was so large that every step it took shook the floor. Each movement it made destroyed something even though it wasn't even really doing anything yet. Lucy couldn't help but think it was still waking up. It had been trapped for so long that it wasn't really doing anything yet but walking around and getting its bearings.

Lucy bit her lip. It wouldn't be that out of it for much longer. In a few minutes it would do something however she wasn't sure how much intelligence this demon had. It was called the demon of destruction. It was highly likely that all it was capable off was senseless destruction however this island wouldn't provide it much entertainment. There was nothing around here but trees and the ocean unless it swam towards Hargeon.

Deliora moved away from the temple heading towards the ocean and honestly Lucy didn't have any idea or any plan to use on this demon. She let him go. It would probably take the demon at least ten minutes to reach the shore. It moved extremely slowly and still seemed disorientated. They would have to come up with some sort of plan for the monster after they found Gray.

The two women landed on the ground and immediately started searching through the ruins of the temple, calling for Gray. Lucy found a piece of his discarded shirt and nearly screamed in frustration. This never happened before, Deliora was never supposed to come back from the brink of death. Ur had given her life to stop that creature and now some idiot had undone all her hard work.

Lucy knew that she was starting to lose control. Her heart was in her throat and fear clogged her brain. She couldn't think straight, all she could see was a blood red sky, smell the fires and death and for a moment she was back in the middle of a war. The one where Zeref and his assholes were picking off their family one by one and they couldn't do anything to stop them.

Gray was her big brother, her family and she couldn't find him. It wasn't supposed to turn out this way. He would have gotten a little roughed up by Lyon and then he would have kicked some sanity back into him and they would have been friends again. She wasn't supposed to looking amongst ruins praying that she would find him alive.

Her mind was spinning in too many different directions. She couldn't think or move all she could feel was terror. It nailed her feet to the ground and then Juvia was there next to her, saying something that she couldn't hear. Lucy couldn't hear anything other than the blood pounding in her ears. Natsu- she needed Natsu to grab her hand and tell her everything was going to be alright.

Juvia's grip tightened on her arms and she spoke and then her eyes narrowed on the blonde woman. Lucy could barely feel her grip bruise her arms but Juvia couldn't help but frown. What the hell was wrong with Lucy now? She needed the blonde woman's strength right now. She needed her to pull herself together and come up with a plan. They needed her on her A-game. Where the hell was the woman who held back the Jupiter canon? All she could see right now was a terrified little girl.

"Lucy, can you hear me? What the hell are you so afraid of? Juvia is here with you right now. Your nakama is here. Pull yourself together already!" cried Juvia and Lucy finally came to her senses.

"Sorry, I'm sorry Juvia. I just got so scared. Where is Gray? Where is my brother?"

Juvia's mouth pulled into a straight line. For some reason she didn't believe that was the whole truth. Lucy was lost in her own head to Juvia it seemed like Lucy was reliving something which had terrified her. Lucy was one of the bravest people she knew and she couldn't help but worry over what was strong enough to terrify her.

Juvia shook her head and gathered her thoughts. She needed to answer Lucy and deal with the situation in front of her. She would speak to Lucy privately another time, "Juvia doesn't know but Juvia is not leaving without Gray-sama."

There was a shift in the rock and Gray stood there in the middle of the ruins with a frown on his face, "Could one of you help me with him?"

When the demon started roaring, Gray pulled Lyon onto his back and headed for the stairs. He couldn't head down into the cave. He could already feel the stairs underneath him shaking and losing strength. The demon had jumped upwards as soon as the ice melted. It crashed onto the first floor of the temple bringing the entire building down around it. The debris didn't even register the monster.

Its tail had already destroyed whatever was beyond the staircase that they used to get to the roof. Gray knew that without a doubt that the caves which had Deliora trapped in before was now filled with rubble. The entire temple seemed to be sinking into the caves below.

Then the walls gave way and the ceiling crumbled so Gray did the only thing he could do. He created a sphere of ice and trapped Lyon and himself inside the sphere. He could feel the ice crack as the debris fell all around him and then there was the shaking of the ground as the demon started walking further away. Gray almost wanted to curl into a ball and stay inside his little prison because he didn't want to face that monster ever again.

There was a voice inside his head that sounded a lot like his younger self saying, 'it's not fair' and he could almost hear Ur roll her eyes at him. She probably would have said something along the lines of, "Life's not fair. Now get up because we have work to do."

Ur taught him that there was freedom in his maker magic. She taught him that while life was never fair you had to appreciate what you had. She taught him how to survive in a cruel world that just kept taking from him even when he had nothing left to give. That monster would not get away with what he had done. Gray had once set out to destroy the demon and this time he was going to succeed even if it cost him his life.

Then he heard Lucy, calling for her brother and he heard Juvia who refused to abandon him. He hung his head in shame. They would never let him die. They would claw their way into hell if he tried and drag him out by his hair. Gray grit his teeth and fought his way to the light. He was going home with his family after taking down that demon. They were all going back home.

It would be easy to lay down and die but Fairy Tail doesn't give up. A Fairy always gets back up. He remembered Lucy saying it when they were training to fight as a team. Deliora would not take his family from him a third time. He reached for them and he found them. He couldn't help but snark at them as they stared at him in shock. Honestly at this point if he didn't use sarcasm he would break down in tears.

Juvia didn't give Gray much of a chance to do or say anything else. She crushed his head into her boobs crying in relief. Lucy noticed that the poor man went red in the face and he might have gotten a little nose bleed. Juvia however was too busy updating Gray on the fact that she saved the village took care of Lyons friends to notice his reaction.

Lucy sighed in relief and let Juvia have her moment with Gray. She had done very well until now, better than Lucy herself who nearly had a panic attack. Juvia concentrated on her part of the job without getting distracted by Gray and her fantasies of him.

She was able to pull Lucy back to her senses and with the new closeness that they had going on currently it seemed like she may have given Gray a kick in the ass as well. She went over to the unconscious form of Lyon and noticed that he was still breathing.

Gray turned to Lucy and she could see the fear in his eyes, "What do we do now? We can't just leave Deliora to rampage."

Lucy bit her lip because she couldn't come up with anything. She never thought that she would need to face Deliora at full power. She could already feel the demon's growing presence which meant that he was gathering his power. Lucy knew that Deliora could fire high powered beams which would cause a lot of damage however she didn't know anything else about his powers.

The Demon was known for his large size and incredible strength. It was able to rampage across an entire continent without taking any damage which meant that its body was extremely durable. Its weakness was obviously its low intelligence and speed but she never thought that they would need to take down this demon.

Her mind was flying through as many facts as she could think off. She vaguely remembered some research from another lifetime however none of it spoke of any sort of magic that had actually managed to injure the demon. If Lucy remembered correctly the Magic Council had put up a huge bounty on the demon because they couldn't solve the problem.

They had allowed Deliora to rampage the East of Fiore because there climate there was mostly snowstorms in that region. The population there wasn't very high even though there were several cities in the area. They couldn't stop him or use any of his known weaknesses against him so they stopped trying and hoped he went away.

They isolated him in the least populated part of the country and sent random mages to go out and try to defeat him. The council offered a huge reward to anyone willing to go and try to defeat it. Ur had come along and finally trapped the demon which was the closest thing they had to a permanent solution.

Lucy wanted to close her eyes and pretend this wasn't happening. Then the land beneath her feet started trembling. She couldn't ignore it. She couldn't turn a blind eye and hope it went away. They had to defeat it. If Lucy didn't come with a plan then Gray would do something stupid and there was no way she was dealing with whatever crazy plan he was thinking off currently.

"We need to find Natsu and Erza and come up with a plan. If it continues in that direction then its heading towards Hargeon." Said Lucy.

Gray frowned in her direction and Lucy shook her head, "We need a lot of fire power to take it down. We need to regroup. Its possible that the other group here might know something about Deliora that we can use against him. If they don't know anything we still need Erza and Natsu. The three of us don't have enough power to take it down."

Juvia turned towards the demon, "Does Lucy believe that Deliora can cross the ocean?" Asked Juvia as she pointed in the general direction of the demon, who was making a bee-line for the seashore.

Lucy shrugged, "We don't know anything about its powers except for the fact that it can fire high powered beams of something that destroys everything it touches. We have to assume that everything is a possibility."

Gray winced as he moved. He wasn't out of the game entirely but he was low on magic and he was badly bruised. He didn't come out of his battle with Lyon unscathed and he took on some damage while falling from the top of the temple.

"Where are Erza and Natsu?" asked Gray.

Lucy shrugged, "They went to look for the other group of people that we thought were on the island. Did Lyon say anything about the blood sacrifices?"

Gray shook his head, "He wanted Deliora free so that he could defeat the demon and surpass Ur. He thought that if he defeated the demon that she couldn't then he would finally be more powerful than her. I don't think he knew anything about blood sacrifices."

Lyon groaned from his position on the ground, "What blood sacrifices?"

Lucy stared at him, wondering what kind of crazy he was even. She couldn't understand why he never investigated the other magic circle that seemed to appear out of the blue. Then again nothing that Lyon did around this time made any sense.

Lucy couldn't imagine being so obsessed with a goal that you ignored something that was happening literally under your nose. She made a mental note to tell Natsu that if she ever got that obsessed to dump her in the river or something.

"The blood red magic circle that was powered by people we haven't been able to find yet. They were literally people sacrificing their lives to give that demon its life back." Explained Lucy and Lyon frowned, "We never saw anyone. I never investigated the other magic circle. What do you mean when you said 'give Deliora his life back?' What don't I know?"

Juvia frowned in his direction, "Why did you not investigate? If it was so important for you to be the one to free Deliora so that you could defeat it then why didn't you investigate something that could have derailed your plans?"

Lyon couldn't even lift his head to look at Juvia but he still answered her, "I believed it was another stage of the moon drip ritual. When we first started the ritual the magic circle was white. As time passed and the ice began to melt it turned to blue and finally purple. I believed the red magic circle was just another phase of the ritual. Now answer my question."

Lucy knew that this temple was used by the people of this island to purify the body and for fertility rituals. That meant when they first started the ritual they called upon the pure white magic of the temple. If the magic circle turned blue then the magic was probably being tainted by the blood sacrifices and the fact that they were freeing a demon. This was another piece of information that she hadn't known about this ritual.

She frowned in Lyons direction but decided to answer him anyway. He needed to know the truth, "Iced shell may turn the body to ice however being trapped within Ur's ice for so long drained its power. Ur had stolen its life for as long as she kept him in imprisoned. Someone knew that Deliora would not be freed with his full power and ensured that when the ice melted he would be able to recover."

Lyon looked horrified as he realized that Ur had won against Deliora. Someone had interfered with not only his plans but everything that Ur had managed to accomplish. Fury burned in his veins until tears came to his eyes. He had no idea what to say or do anymore. Lyon was looking down the road he had walked and he wondered what Ur would have to say about the decisions he made.

Before anyone else could say anything to what they learned thanks to Lyon there was a loud screeching sound which reminded Lucy of an owl. The group looked upwards and Lucy couldn't help but feel her eyes widen at the weird looking person hovering in front of them.

It had a mans body, with an owl head and a jetpack strapped to his back. He had also screeched something about justice and punishing the evildoers on the island. Gray shot Lucy a deadpan look which was basically screaming, 'What the fuck is this?'

Honestly Lucy didn't know how to respond to him. This guy looked familiar like she should know him then again she had met some strange looking people in the other time line. She wasn't sure who the hell this was or what he wanted from them or how he could possibly be related to this mess. Another part of her couldn't help but think that they had bigger problems to deal with than this freak.

Before she could reply however the owl-man had enough of being ignored. He swooped down, opening his mouth and shouted out, "Capture."

He swallowed Gray whole. That was the only thought going through Lucy's mind at that moment. He ate her brother and before Lucy could even bring herself to get over the shock and get angry because he ATE her brother, Juvia lost her shit.

It started to rain and as the rain poured Lucy couldn't help but step back because everything in her mind was telling her to run the fuck away. Juvia was pissed. Lucy could see the hell fire burning in her eyes and she shouted, "Give Gray-sama back."

The owl-man dodged her water whips and took to the air screeching again, "In ten minutes he will be completely digested and I will have his full power."

The owl-man slammed his hands together and Juvia had to jump over the ice hammer that nearly flattened her into the ground. The rain that soaked the ground started to move upwards and Juvia started to moving, with the water. She became the rain itself. The water rose in a whirlpool trapping the owl-man. However before she could completely imprison him the owl-man flew upward and out of the whirlpool of water.

Juvia followed him and Lucy turned to Happy, "Take Lyon back to the village. It may be destroyed but its safer than being here."

Happy grabbed Lyon who was passed out again and took off in the direction of the village. Lucy chased after Juvia who was chasing after an owl-man who had eaten Gray. If they didn't get him back soon then he would get digested and Lucy didn't even want to know what would happen then.

There was some part of her brain that was wondering, 'what the fuck is wrong with her life' as she ran through the forest. Lucy had dealt with demons, dragons, dragon slayers who turned into dragons (Irene and Acnologia) time travel, ghosts (Mavis), evil crybabies (Zeref) and then more time travel. All in all she liked to think that she was a pretty adaptable person.

Demon shows up no problem, dragons sure why not, time travel been there done that however she did not have any plans for someone eating her nakama. Cannibals were not something that she expected to deal with on this island. Prior to a few moments ago Lucy was pretty sure that she would never need to deal with a cannibal.

Lucy sped into a clearing and saw the owl-man standing next to a pink haired woman and a guy that she unfortunately recognized. Natsu and Erza were holding Juvia back even though she seemed to be giving them both a hard time.

"Lucy what happened? I can't understand a word Juvia is saying." Cried Erza.

Natsu and Erza were gearing up for a fight between the two assassins. They both knew that they couldn't leave Deliora to rampage the island which meant that they would have to do something about him later. First they needed to take these guys down because they didn't look like they were going to just let Natsu and Erza walk away without a fight.

However before anyone could start the fight an owl-man that Natsu recognized landed in the clearing. Juvia followed on his heels and she immediately tried to attack him. Owl-man on other hand seemed more interested in conversing with his nakama. The guitar player sent his hair to attack Juvia who allowed his hair to pass through her water body without doing any damage.

Erza and Natsu got a hold of Juvia to try and make some sort of sense of what was about to happen. The rocker was standing in front of the other two assassins and they seemed to be immersed in their conversation. Since neither Erza nor Natsu could understand Juvia and they didn't know why she was so desperate to attack the owl-guy who was being protected, Lucy showing up was perfect timing.

"The owl-man ate Gray." Explained Lucy and she couldn't help but pat her back at the fact that her voice came out strong instead of hysterical.

Ikaruga scoffed, "His name is Fukuro. The one holding the guitar is Vidaldus Taka and I am Ikaruga."

Lucy remembered the rocker who fought against her and Juvia in one lifetime. They only beat him due to a unison raid. Erza had a hard time facing off Ikaruga and Lucy honestly didn't know what happened to Fukuro. She didn't know who defeated him.

Natsu almost wanted to laugh but he remembered getting eaten and it was not fun. He roared at Fukuro and demanded that he give Gray back. Before anyone could say anything else the island started shaking again. Lucy had no idea what was happening but it was probably something that Deliora was cooking up. They didn't have time for this right now.

Lucy glowed gold, turned into her Taurus star dress and sucker punched Fukuro before anyone could move. He coughed up Gray who seemed a little traumatized and extremely pissed. Fukuro moved his arms upwards getting ready to do something when Gray turned him into an icicle and sent the icicle flying to roads untraveled.

Ikaruga drew her sword and dived towards Lucy who turned just in time to find Erza in front of her deflecting the shot. Vidaldus had his hair move almost unconsciously towards Juvia who sliced through his hair with her water. He strummed something and turned her into his succubus. Gray lost his shit and unleashed a fury of attacks at him while ignoring the fact that Juvia was heading towards Lucy.

Natsu caught Juvia in a sleepers hold and left her on the ground unconscious and out of the mad mans control. Erza frowned as the ground trembled again and she steadied her stance, "Natsu Lucy go after Deliora. See if you guys can do something about him. We'll join you once we deal with this."

Erza knew that Lucy and Natsu were the ones without damage. She had not fought anyone either but the woman in front of her was dangerous. She would not be a good opponent for Natsu or Lucy to fight. Besides Deliora would be able to take a lot of punishment and Natsu's fire based magic would do more damage than her weapons.

She didn't honestly think that Lucy and Natsu could take down the demon together. She hoped that Natsu would be able to damage the demon and that Lucy would be able to gather enough information to provide them with a plan of attack. Hopefully the entire team would be enough to kill the demon.

Before she could think on the matter anymore Ikaruga unleashed a flurry of attacks which destroyed the armor that she wore. Erza back flipped out of the way of another flurry of invisible sword attacks and requipped into her Heavens Wheel Armor. She attacked Ikaruga with circle sword who managed to deflect and shatter every blade sent towards her.

The pink haired woman spun in a slow circle and her sword was set alight, "Garuda Flame."

Erza requipped into her Flame Empress Armor and was able to deflect most of the attack however Ikaruga sent another flurry of sword attacks which once more destroyed her armor.

Erza struggled to her feet and took a moment to breathe. She wore her armor not because she believed she was strong. She wore the armor so that it could protect her weak crying heart. All her life she cried as the people around her struggled to live and to survive. In the Tower when Grandpa Rob gave his life for hers, she cried. When Jellal lost his mind, she cried. She sat alone because the crowds scared her and cried in the dark where no one could see her.

She wore the armor and it gave her the courage to pretend to be strong. However Fairy Tail gave her family and Jellal dug his way out of his madness and came back to her. He went back to the tower and set everyone free. Her friends were out there seeing the world. She didn't have to cry anymore. Her friends didn't need her to be strong for them. They were strong enough to protect her.

Erza requipped into her Clear Heart Clothing, red plants with yellow flames on the bottom with bindings on her chest. She called two swords to her hands and then she moved. Erza nearly smiled as she did so, never before had she moved so freely. There was no weight of the armor holding her down, the swords in her hands never felt so strong. One of her swords may have broken but she felt Ikaruga fall.

Gray on the other hand was busy freezing parts of Vidaldus's hair as the crazy rocker melted into the ground and reappeared in different places. That thrice damned guitar of his kept blaring music which sent out invisible hits towards him that was making him frustrated.

Gray couldn't figure out what type of attack he would use next. His ears were ringing with the screeching of the guitar and it was making him disorientated. Gray wasn't moving as fast as could have been if he hadn't been in a fight and nearly crushed to death by the debris of a crumbling temple.

This guy was a pain in the ass and Gray finally had enough of him. Gray waited for him to reappear out of the ground and hit him with ice cannon. Once he lid through the dirt he froze the guitar and then shattered the ice. He couldn't help the grin of victory when the guitar was smashed to pieces. He knocked out the rocker with a round house kick to the head.

Juvia seemed to be less injured than Gray however she was completely pissed off that the rocker managed to control her. Gray on the other hand had taken on a lot of damage and Erza really didn't believe that he would be able to up against Deliora in that condition. Erza took a moment to check on her own injuries and couldn't help the sigh of relief that left her lips. She had a couple of bruises and some of her armors were wrecked but she had more than enough magic power to go a couple more rounds with a dangerous opponent.

"We should head to Natsu and Lucy." Said Juvia and Erza nodded her head, "The island is quiet. It shouldn't be this quiet here with a demon of that size wandering around."

Juvia wrapped her arm around Gray's waist and helped him walk in the general direction that they believed Deliora had gone. The group of three stumbled onto the shore only to find Lucy standing there with a strange look on her face. There were too many emotions passing through her eyes to determine what she was feeling currently.

"Where's Natsu and Deliora?" asked Gray.

Gray had all but collapsed onto the ground to get in a few moments of rest. Lucy just pointed towards the sky without a word. Erza felt her own eyes widen as she noticed the flames in the sky. Natsu was using his flames to fly however she had no idea what he was doing so far out. To her it looked like he was halfway towards Hargeon.

"What's going on Lucy?" asked Juvia and Lucy rubbed the palms of her hands into her eyes in frustration, "By the time we got here Deliora was already in the water."

Erza, Juvia and Gray all turned towards the ocean and searched the surface of the water. Erza felt her eyes widen as she saw it. Deliora was walking towards Hargeon. He had entered the water, reached the sea floor and continued to walk even though the pressure of the sea should have crushed him.

Deliora didn't even seem to notice the pressure of water as he moved steadily through the water. All they could see was the tip of his horns which surfaced with every step he took. Deliora wasn't moving fast but his steps were huge and he was covering a lot of distance. Natsu seemed to be racing him towards the town.

"Natsu is trying to evacuate the town." Said Lucy.

Juvia and Gray stared as the sun began to rise, "He isn't going to make it. We won't be able to reach there in time either. Lucy why didn't you fly towards Hargeon?"

Lucy bit her lip, "Even at my top speed I won't make there in time. Natsu is going as fast as he can but even he is barely managing to stay ahead of him. Someone needed to stay here and tell you guys what was happening here."

Erza nodded her head, "Do you have a plan Lucy?"

Lucy shook her head, "Hit him until you a soft spot and then keep hitting it. Natsu attacked him with fire but his skin is strong. His scales are like armor. There has to be a weakness somewhere but it will take time to find that spot. If Deliora starts to fire those beams, Hargeon won't be the only town it will take out."

Erza didn't like the plan but she knew that Lucy was struggling with this plan. She didn't know what else to do but hit the demon until something gave. There was no other plan here. She knew that Lucy wasn't happy with the idea of allowing Deliora to reach the town but they didn't know what else to do. It was already more than half way there.

Before anyone could say anything else because they still needed to find a way to reach the demon when Gray got up and ran towards the ocean. As he raced across the ocean he froze the water underneath him, "Common, we don't have a lot of time. The ice won't last forever."

Juvia raced past Erza and Lucy. She grabbed Gray's hand and started controlling the water around her. Erza and Lucy shared a smile and they raced behind Gray and Juvia. The two of them together were creating a bridge of ice for them to cross the ocean as Juvia kept the waves from breaking the ice. It was amazing and extremely taxing. Lucy wasn't sure how much longer either of them would be able to keep something of this scale up.

Gray glanced down at the hand in his own. He couldn't help the blush started creeping up his cheeks. It had been a long time since someone had held his hand but this was different. He could feel her magic moving in synch with his and never before had he ever felt this close to someone. It had never felt more right for someone to be standing by his side and shit if it didn't scare the crap out of him.

It didn't take them very long to reach the port. Just as the group of mages reached the port fishermen were already running for their lives. Gray turned and once more he came face to face with the demon from his nightmares. Deliora was now visible in the ocean from about the waist upwards. Natsu landed on the port and saw that the people in the town were already running for their lives.

Gray grabbed Juvia, "We need to hold him in place while Natsu and Erza find a weak spot."

Juvia took a deep breath and they synched their magic once more. A magic circle of pale blue opened around Deliora and the water that engulfed him turned to ice. Deliora tried moving through the ice when Juvia hit him with a wave of water. The two mages held him but it was obviously straining them to do so. They were both already tired from everything that they had already done.

Deliora roared and Natsu was already in the air hitting him with as much fire as he could. Erza kept requipping, striking in different places with different weapons trying to find a soft spot. Lucy bit her lip and got ready to cast Urano Metria. It was her most powerful offensive spell and hopefully it would do some damage against the creature.

Deliora opened his mouth and roared. Deliora seemed to grow tired of fighting against the ice that kept his legs imprisoned. He grabbed Erza and threw her towards Natsu. They both crashed into the ocean. Lucy could hear the crowds cry out in horror when they both went down. Lucy didn't have time to let herself feel any sort of terror for her friends. A hit like that would never keep her husband or the queen of fairies down.

She donned her Sagittarius and sent out a star shot. One of the beams hit inside Deliora's mouth and the demon roared in pain. Lucy smiled, she found it. She got ready to hit him with another shot when her eyes widened. There was a glow coming the Deliora's mouth. Lucy realized that it was going to fire that beam. She felt fear grip her heart.

Lucy didn't know anything about the capabilities of that beam or how long Deliora could keep the attack up. Her shield wouldn't last forever. It was meant to up a defense but only for a few minutes. She couldn't keep that spell up for long.

I seek the guardians of the Heavens  
As the Ruler of the Stars  
Hear my voice, heed my call  
I beckon you to my side  
Open six gates  
Zodiac

Erza fought against the ocean as she swam to the surface. She managed to reach the surface just as Lucy hit Deliora with Star shot and she grinned as well. She saw it too. Natsu swam towards her and called her name, "We're not finding a weak spot."

Erza shook her head, "Your wife just found it."

They both turned back to look at Lucy. They paled when they saw Deliora getting ready to use that beam. If it fired on the town Deliora would destroy the entire town. Erza felt a large amount of magic being called upon. She turned to warn Lucy and noticed her glowing gold and muttering a spell.

Six golden beams of energy appeared in different places throughout Hargeon. Loke, Aquarius, Capricorn, Virgo, Gemini and Taurus all of whom were glowing gold reached out their hands and the gold energy started to cover the entire town.

"Celestial cage." Cried Lucy.

Erza swam towards Lucy who already had beads of sweat covering her forehead, "Lucy what is this?"

"A more powerful shield but I can't hold six spirits here forever. This spell will last for as long as I have the magic to power it. Erza hurry, I won't be able to hold this."

"We found the weak spot. Just give us a little more time." Replied Erza.

Erza requipped two swords to her hands when Deliora fired the first beam. It hit Lucy's shield head on and Lucy screamed. Several citizens screamed as well however they all paused when they noticed the golden shield didn't break under the pressure of the beam. They cheered but Erza noticed Lucy biting her lip so hard it bled. She wouldn't be able to take multiple hits using this shield either.

Erza and Natsu were getting ready to hit it again when the ice cracked. Deliora roared as it was freed from the ice that imprisoned it. Gray and Juvia hit the floor unconscious. They couldn't hold him any longer and they both passed out from the strain. Deliora advanced on the city and the only thing standing between him and Hargeon was Lucy and her spirits. Oh, and the Titania, Queen of the Fairies and the Salamander.

Natsu smiled as he realized that they weren't getting anywhere holding back. For the first time since coming to this time period Natsu stopped masking his magic. He felt his entire being engulfed in his flames as he made a running start towards Deliora.

He was finally able to go all out on someone and that demon was heading straight for his wife. Anyone who hurt Lucy would have to answer to him and Deliora had been hanging around for too long now. It was time to end this once and for all.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Gray could feel the sun baking his bare back and he groaned. He was an ice mage. Heat, sun and fire were the enemy even if it was just a sunny day Gray would be a little grumpy. His body temperature was lower than normal which meant that he always felt a little uncomfortable in the sun.

Gray forced his eyes opened and cursed the fact that he somehow managed to fall asleep outside. He couldn't understand what possessed him to fall asleep in the sun. He could hear the sound of the ocean and someone very close to him groaning in pain. Then there was a roaring sound which made the ground tremble.

'What the hell was happening?' he thought to himself as he blinked the bright spots out of his eyes.

The first thing that he noticed was the glowing gold sphere that he was inside. He turned his head to the side and noticed Lucy with sweat pouring down her forehead and blood on her lips. Gray pulled his protesting body upwards and noticed that he was on the docks. That explained the ocean sounds.

There were six beams of light and it took Gray a moment to realize that they were Lucy's spirits. Then he felt his jaw drop because she had open six gates and it was obviously straining her. She had covered half the town of Hargeon in a golden shield because of Deliora.

His eyes widened as he turned to a passed out Juvia on the floor next to him. They were supposed to be holding him in the ocean but they ran out of magic. Deliora had been freed and he fired a beam at the town. The only reason the town was still standing was because of Lucy. Gray wondered for a fleeting moment how the hell Natsu managed to convince a girl that awesome to marry him.

He nearly wanted to ask for some advice and then Juvia's hands tightened on his and he could see wedding bells ringing in the distance. Gray wanted to run the fuck away because he could see Juvia standing there in a wedding dress and muttering something about thirty three babies. Maybe he could pretend that none of these things passed his mind.

He was still rattled due to everything that happened. He couldn't control the direction his thoughts were going in. He might be having a nervous breakdown. It was possible right? He had just found out that his sort of older brother had been drinking the crazy juice for a couple years.

Lyon also managed to melt iced shell essentially killing their mentor/mother figure and then released the demon that plagued his nightmares for years. Gray was facing everything that he had been running from for years all at the same time. He was due a mental breakdown due to emotional stress.

For some reason all Gray could mentally picture happening in his brain was a chibi version of himself with his hair on fire running around a burning room. The chibi Gray was also trying in to put out said fires and failing miserably. That mental picture summed up this mission quiet well.

'Is that another beam heading towards Lucy?' he thought to himself.

'Yes, yes it is another beam you moron. Do something your sister needs help.' His subconscious mind which sounded a hell of a lot like Ur responded.

Gray ran, ignoring the insane thoughts running through his mind. He made a mental note to ask Wendy to check for a concussion or if he had any screws loose when he got back to the guild. Maybe he would just take a damn vacation. Somewhere cold and snowing where the sun doesn't shine – ever.

He ignored his protesting body and the lack of magic power in his body. He had to make sure she was alright because she screamed when the beam hit the shield. Her knees were trembling and suddenly Gray was there, grabbing her arms so that her knees wouldn't buckle from the force of the beam.

Lucy could vaguely hear people muttering their thanks and praying that she didn't fall. Lucy just wanted Natsu to hurry up and do something about the damn demon who kept firing those godforsaken beams at the town. She could feel the shield crack in certain places which meant that there was no way she was going to be able to hold off for much longer.

Erza had requipped into her Adamantine Armor and brought her shield together in front out Lucy outside of the shield she had created. She was initially going to attack Deliora with Natsu however once he unleashed that magic power she decided against getting in his way.

The flames that surrounded him burned blood red. She could feel the heat of those flames all the way on the docks and she was pretty sure that if she got too close he would burn her flesh down to her bones. She could already see the water from the ocean evaporate when he got too close to the surface.

Lucy on the other hand had already taken five hits from Deliora. Her shield was cracking and she was running out of the magic needed to keep it up. Her shield was the only reason why there wasn't a mass panic going on. There was no way they could safely evacuate the entire town.

If the people in Hargeon started to run, they would end up trampling people and maybe causing a riot or mass hysteria. They needed to be kept calm. Erza knew her shield wouldn't last as long as Lucy's and it wasn't as large which meant that it didn't cover the entire town. However it did protect Lucy who was keeping the rest of the town safe.

Deliora on the other hand wasn't completely incompetent. Erza believed that he could feel Lucy's magical presence which meant that he knew that Lucy was powering the shield. His beams were aimed in her general direction which meant that he was trying to take her down. He knew that once she fell he would be able to destroy what she sought to protect.

Erza was hoping to buy Lucy and Natsu some time because every time Deliora hit her shield it took a toll on Lucy's body. If Erza was able to deflect a beam or two she hoped it would give Lucy some much needed breathing room.

When this was over Erza and Natsu were going to be having a very important conversation about his training. There was no way he was able to reach this level in one year. He was keeping something a secret and Erza wouldn't be putting up with it much longer.

Natsu hit Deliora in the center of his chest with the iron fist of the fire dragon and smirked. Deliora had barely felt the punch however Natsu was determined that he would feel what came next. Natsu allowed his flames to build in his hands and he pushed outwards. He covered the entire upper part of Deliora in flames and the demon finally felt something.

"Fuck." Cursed Natsu when Deliora back handed him. Natsu went flying through the air and he tasted blood in his mouth from the force of that hit. He flared the flames on the bottom of his feet, catching himself in the air and propelling him forward.

The flames hadn't done much damage to Deliora but Natsu had managed to get the demons attention focused solely on him. Both Erza and Lucy wouldn't need to worry about another hit from the beam while Deliora focused on Natsu.

Natsu sent out what looked like fire whip which he used to latch onto Deliora's horns. He used the whip to swing himself towards Deliora. Natsu came face to face with Deliora for a moment and in that moment he roared using the full power of the Lightning Flame Dragon.

Erza gasped as she watched Natsu roar at Deliora. It hit Deliora full on pushing him backwards a few feet nearly causing him to topple over. Deliora roared in anger, the spikes on his body grew in length until several of them shot outwards. One hit Lucy's shield cracking it further, another hit Erza's shield and didn't do much damage, three flew towards Natsu.

Natsu punched through the first spike, kicked the second away and caught the third with his bare hands. He threw the spike back at Deliora nailing him in the eye. The demon roared in pain again and swatted out blindly. Natsu twisted midair and fire once more propelled him through the air. He somersaulted midair, both feet hitting Deliora in the neck.

Gray watched as Natsu reached a level so far beyond him that he couldn't even figure out when or how he could have possibly over powered him by this much. His eyes widened when he saw the black flames wrap around Natsu's feet.

Gray recognized the black fire that Natsu used against the Jupiter canon but no one ever figured out what type of flames those were. Laxus tried asking about it but Natsu brushed off the question. Eventually everyone just forgot about it.

The black flames mixed with the strange blood red colour of the flames that surrounded him. The flames that surrounded Natsu reminded Gray of the color of lava. He wondered when Natsu had learned to change the color of his flames. He also wondered what the color difference between those flames meant. He could feel the heat of those flames all the way out on the docks.

Gray knew that Natsu's fire had changed. He had never been this powerful before and he couldn't understand how he could have reached this level in such a short amount of time. Then there was the fact that he was somehow able to use lightning. As far as he could remember Natsu never managed to eat Laxus's lightning before so where did the ability come from?

The black and blood red flames that wrapped around Natsu's feet covered Deliora's neck. The force of the flames toppled Deliora into the ocean with a roar of pain and a spray of black blood.

Natsu jumped upwards and used a type of roar that none of them knew was possible for him, "Fire Dragon King Roar."

The roar was made of blood red flames. The heat evaporated the surrounding ocean. Deliora's hand glowed and the beam shot outwards. Natsu dodged as the oceans water started to cover the demon and black flames appeared once more, "Dragon God's Brilliant Flame."

Deliora roared in pain and his scales cracked, several pieces of scales and part of the horn on his head crumbled as he rose up once more. The beam from his mouth tore through the ocean. It hit Natsu once before Deliora turned his head and hit Erza's shield head on. It took one huge step towards them, arms glowing with the same light that came from his mouth.

Lucy bit her lip as she opened her second origin. She was running out of the magic needed to maintain this spell. However once the demons hands started to glow Lucy knew she was screwed. She wouldn't be able hold off against that much fire power. Erza wouldn't be able handle it either.

Erza screamed as she held her shield against that beam but Deliora was pissed. He wasn't letting up the beam until Erza was gone. Natsu saw her stand against the beam. Her armor had once taken a direct hit from the Jupiter canon but even he could see that she wasn't going to last long. Deliora fired another beam from his hand and her shield began to crack.

Natsu saw grit his teeth. Erza was standing between Lucy and Deliora and even though he had complete faith in his wife he knew that the spell she was using was extremely incomplete. She had not managed to perfect the spell yet.

Unlike the celestial shield which was created specifically for when she faced off against Phantom. It was always her plan to hold off the canon which was the reason why the spell was ready. Lucy knew she needed a strong defensive spell and she knew that the spell had to be ready by the time Phantom attacked. She put months of training into creating that one specific spell.

Celestial Cage on the other hand, was not a spell that she was ready to be using. Especially since it wasn't technically supposed to be a shield. He didn't really understand what Lucy was trying to do with that spell but he didn't want to try and tell her how to create her spells.

He just listened whenever she needed him too. Lucy thought better when she had someone to bounce ideas off even though she didn't really need his input. She just worked better when she verbalized her ideas. Well that was one reason, the other was because he didn't really understand the method behind creating her spells. It had something to do with contracts and opening their gates.

All those thoughts aside, he needed to something right now or else Lucy, Erza and the town would be gone. He managed to crack the scales on the demons neck which meant that the skin underneath it would be tender. He was pretty sure that Deliora was bleeding from his neck.

Natsu grinned, "Crimson Lotus: Exploding Lightening Blade."

Natsu aimed the vortex of fire and lightening at Deliora's neck injuring him further and spilling even more black blood. It was painful enough that he stopped firing the beam. However he noticed that Erza's armor was completely trashed. Deliora on the other hand wasn't dead and Natsu was getting tired. He was unleashing his most powerful attacks one after the other and Deliora just kept waking up.

Natsu grinned when he realized that Deliora now had a hole in his neck. It was roughly as big as his own body so he attacked it with everything that he had, "Lightning Flame Dragon's Firing Hammer."

Natsu unleashed a series of devastating strikes to the hole in the demons neck. Deliora clawed at his neck to try and diffuse Natsu. Natsu jumped over the giant arm and roared into the hole in Deliora's neck. The blood started pouring out of the wound even faster and Deliora stopped moving.

Lucy assumed that it had never been injured before and as such the demon didn't know what to do next. Natsu activated Fire Dragon King mode. He engulfed his entire body in blood red flames and created a sword of a fusion of lightning, black flames and blood red flames. He flew through the hole in Deliora's neck swinging the sword and cutting through to the other side.

Gray's eyes widened as Deliora's head fell forwards while his body fell backwards and sank to the bottom of the ocean. It took a moment for everyone to realize that Natsu had literally ripped Deliora's head straight of his shoulders. The demon was dead and currently being swallowed up by the ocean.

Natsu gently set himself down on the docks and Lucy finally stopped her spell. Her spirits disappeared in a flash of light and the shield crumbled. Gray managed to catch her and set down on her knees gently. Lucy took several deep breaths as she blinked the dark spots out of her eyes.

Juvia was still passed out not far from them on the docks and Erza had taken some heavy damage from the beam. Her armor had been shattered completely and her body was bruised. Natsu was sure that she had no magic power left. She looked a lot like she did after she took that hit from the Jupiter canon.

Natsu ran to Lucy and gathered her up in his arms. She gave him a tired smile before she passed out completely. Gray stared at Natsu with a strange look on his face before he dragged himself towards Juvia. He was going to pick her up until he realized that they didn't have a hotel room here. Their job was on the other side of the bloody ocean. There was no-where for him to take her.

Black spots danced in front of his eyes and he collapsed onto of Juvia. Erza was left passed out on the docks. Several of the fishermen made their way to the group of mages that had just saved their city and gasped at the numerous wounds that covered their bodies. The pink haired man that managed to defeat the demon was asleep curled around the blonde woman who held up the shield that saved them.

They called for stretchers and several of the people on the docks carried the unconscious mages towards the hospital for treatment. Meanwhile the Magic Council had already convened and they were all losing their heads. Fairy Tail had just defeated Deliora in broad daylight.

The story was already spreading. Master Makarov was on a war path. The old man may run a guild that was a pain in the ass but he was not an enemy that anyone wanted to have. Then there was the fact that he had warned them. When Deliora had gone missing he had been the one to advocate that they dig into the matter and find the demon.

He had been overruled by the Council who believed that Iced Shell wouldn't be melted and that Deliora would be trapped forever. Now his mages had been forced to fight against the creature and they managed to defeat it. Fairy Tail had managed to prevent a disaster of epic proportions.

One of his Fairies held up a shield so large that she managed to protect the entire town of Hargeon. Two other Fairies had held Deliora inside the ocean, after they created a bridge so that they could run across the ocean to the town to protect it against Deliora.

The Queen of Fairies had put up her own shield and held against three beams from Deliora trying to protect her friend when it became obvious that her shield was breaking. The two women prevented mass panic in Hargeon. A mass panic which could have led to people being trampled as they ran out of the town if the two Fairies had not contained the situation.

Then there was the Salamander. He had literally ripped the head off Deliora's body and left him to sink to the bottom of the ocean. Master Makarov would have destroyed them. There was no one who didn't believe that if even one of his Fairies had been even a little more injured than they already were he would have went to war with the magic council.

The debt that they owed to that guild had just grown into something that they could no longer control. Lullaby was one thing. They had nearly managed to brush the matter under the mat. However Deliora was a demon that rampaged the land and killed thousands of people. He had destroyed more cities than any of them cared to remember.

The fact that taking him down was this public meant that they couldn't brush this under the rug. They had to do something and it would have to be something big. It was the Magic Council who lost the demon and they didn't look into the matter. They were responsible for putting an entire town in danger.

If it hadn't been for the Fairy Tail mages who managed to defeat the demon, Deliora would have destroyed Hargeon and moved inland. Fiore would have been destroyed before they managed to do something about the demon. Then there was the fact that there wasn't much they could do against Deliora. They didn't know how to defeat him nor did they have the firepower to pull off what the Salamander had done.

The council had called in Makarov to issue him an as much as they loathed to say it out loud, an apology. They were also going to tell him what they had decided to do and hope it was enough to appease his anger. As it was they were going to have to owe him a favor or two.

When Makarov walked in with an extremely pissed off Siegrain Fernandes by his side the council nearly winced. How could they forget that Siegrain had joined that guild? It was becoming well-known that he and the Titania had an extremely close relationship. The fact that she was injured spoke volumes to the anger he displayed.

The fact that Laxus Dreyar walked in beside both of them nearly brought several of them to their knees. The combined magical pressure from the three of them would probably shake the continent. Pale faced they entered the discussion with the three mages and hoped that they would be willing to play along with them. The people needed to believe that the Magic Council had worked with Fairy Tail to achieve this or they were going to be eaten alive.

Natsu woke up and immediately noticed that Lucy wasn't by his side or in his room. He growled loudly alerting nearly everyone on the floor that he awake and that he was pissed. His growl woke up Gray who was covered in bandages from head to toe.

Gray took one look at the pissed off look on his friends face and realized that a dragon just woke up without his wife by his side. Natsu was probably terrified of what happened to Lucy when they both passed out. The doctors tried in vain to stop him moving or burning them to ash. He was also demanding information on Lucy when Gray decided to do something before Natsu hurt someone.

"Just tell him what condition Lucy is in and he'll stop." Said Gray.

One of the nurses winced, "We're not allowed to give out our patients private information to non-family members."

Natsu growled louder and Gray rolled his eyes, "The blonde is his wife. Just take him to her and he'll behave."

Before Gray could blink the doctors and nurses had Natsu transferred into another room with Lucy inside it. Gray was a little bit confused to the special treatment they were receiving but he ignored it. He asked the nurse if Juvia was alright.

"Are the two of you married as well?" questioned the nurse and Gray turned as red as Erza's hair.

"No! Just tell me if she is recovering well. You don't have to give me any important information. The guild is the only family she has." Replied Gray.

The nurse took pity on him, "She and the red haired woman are recovering just fine. They were bruised and depleted of magical energy. After some rest they'll be back to normal."

They were stuck in the hospital for an entire day before they were allowed to leave. The team gathered outside the hospital and Gray wondered if they could go home yet. Lucy just shook her head, "We didn't come here to defeat Deliora. We came here because of the curse on the island. We need to check with villagers and make sure that the curse has lifted."

Juvia and Gray groaned. They were both ready to just go home. However they followed Erza back down to the docks where the fishermen were only too happy to take them to the island. Everyone in the town treated them like royalty and it was starting to fluster them. It was rare that they had an entire town thanking them for their help.

When they got back to the village Lyon and his friends were gone. Lucy hoped that they would join a guild like they did the last time. Then there was the fact that the village was back to normal. Natsu and Lucy shared a look. Ultear had been here and for some reason she had fixed the village just like she had done the last time. They missed her while they were busy with Deliora but she was here.

Erza noticed the look that the couple shared and her eyes narrowed. There was something going on here and she knew that it would be linked to Natsu and his strange power levels. They knew something about the fact that the village was back to normal but they weren't sharing the information either.

Erza spoke to the village chief once more and when night came Natsu and Erza broke through the membrane once more. Lucy was relieved that the mission was finally over. Then there was the fact that they actually managed to receive the full reward for the mission. It was something that never happened before and Lucy was just relieved that they could go home.

Rent money wasn't so important to Lucy anymore but the reward money from this mission would do wonders for their savings. Lucy hoped that she and Natsu could take Wendy out when they went home. After everything that happened it would be nice to spend some time together as a family.

Once the team finally managed to get back to the guild they noticed that everyone was looking at them weirdly. As soon as they walked in Mira immediately welcomed them home. Then she punched Erza in the arm and said, "What the hell were you idiots thinking?"

Erza just looked at everyone in shock, "What are you guys talking about?"

Levy wiggled through the crowd and sighed, "You guys took out Deliora. Its on every newspaper and magazine in the country."

Lucy felt her jaw drop, "Things kind of spiraled out of control but there wasn't much that we could. We didn't have much of a choice."

"Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray, Juvia. My office. Now." Called out Master Makarov.

The team looked at each other in shock for a moment before quickly going up the stairs. It was extremely rare for the master to call up someone to his office. It had to be something very important to be called into a private meeting with the Master.

Natsu and Lucy held hands as they walked into the office and they stayed quiet while Erza explained the events of what happened with Deliora. The master nodded his head and turned to Natsu, "The Council has been under much pressure since the Lullaby incident. Now that Natsu has defeated Deliora in such a public manner they feel the need to reward the guild."

The team nodded to show their understanding, "They have given us the bounty that they put on Deliora all those years ago. It is a small fortune and as the team who put the demon down it is your decision what happens to that money.

Lucy shared a look with Erza, "The money can go to the guild master. We don't need it and the guild hasn't had any savings for quite some time now. Besides we didn't set out to destroy Deliora."

Gray and Juvia agreed and the master allowed them to leave. They were only needed to ensure that they agreed about the money since they were part of the team that took down Deliora. The next part of this was something that involved Natsu and Lucy since she was his wife. Erza remained because she wanted to speak to the couple with the Master.

"Natsu we need to talk about something else."

Natsu raised an eyebrow in the Masters direction, "What's happening now Gramps?"

Master Makarov frowned, "The Council doesn't believe that just giving us the reward will be enough. Due to your actions when you fought against Lullaby dealing the finishing blow and winning against Deliora today, the council has taken notice of your power. They believe that you are ready to be named a wizard saint."

Lucy's jaw dropped, that was something that never come up before then again Natsu had never truly gone toe to toe with a demon of that size in such a public manner. There were many mages out there that could qualify to be a wizard saint. Gildarts was one, if Ur had lived she would have been one as well but she refused the title simply because she wanted to live in her little corner of the world.

She never truly stopped mourning her daughter. Laxus could have been one but due to the Battle of Fairy Tail in the other time line the council didn't believe he was responsible enough. Lucy was sure that there were other mages out there who turned down the title for various reasons.

Some turned it down not wanting to get involved with the council. Others preferred to carry on with their adventures than deal with the politics and the fame. Some never really got noticed due to the fact that they rarely showed their power.

The Title while being extremely important and a high honor also came with many political strings attached. The Council had to nominate the members and some mages were over looked simply because of the Councils own prejudice. They weren't giving the title to Natsu because they believed he deserved it. They were giving it to him because they needed to appease the public.

If Natsu accepted it would mean that Fairy Tail had worked with the Council to protect the people of Fiore. It was all about how they presented it to the world. Natsu being one of them means that they could take credit for what happened with Deliora and make it seem like they had everything under control from the start. However he did have the magic power to sit on the council.

Before Natsu could finish processing what the Master had told him Erza spoke up, "Natsu how did you become this powerful?"

Lucy winced at the direct question. She highly doubted that they could just brush off the question this time. She bit her lip as she looked at Erza and the master. Laxus wasn't in danger of being expelled anymore and Jellal wasn't crazy anymore. She knew that Erza still needed to face her mother but that would only be in the final battle.

Lucy didn't feel that it was her place to tell Erza about the connection that she shared with Irene. However she didn't see the need to keep everything a secret anymore, at least not from Erza and the Master. They had already altered so much.

Mystogan and Siegrain knew nearly everything, it would be better if the Master and Erza knew as well. There was a lot coming and having the master as an ally would be even better.

Natsu turned towards Lucy when she didn't say anything and raised an eyebrow in her direction, "Luce say something."

Lucy bit her lip, "Time travel."

Erza and Master Makarov felt their eyes widen at those words, "What are you both talking about?"

Lucy shook her head, "Years from now Fairy Tail will battle against the Alvarez army. We were losing and the Emperor of Alvarez sent Natsu and I back in time. We ended up in the past, two years before we even met. Our power levels were the same and we had our memories so we set out to prepare for the war that we know is coming. We told my father only at first, then Mystogan and Siegrain."

Erza started at Lucy in shock, "Siegrain?"

Lucy bit her lip, "Tell the Master about Igneels plan and Zeref while I explain things to Erza."

Lucy left Natsu to discuss his past and what he learned with the Master in private. She thought it would be best if she spoke to Erza.

"When we first met it was when you asked Natsu and Gray to accompany you on a mission. I hadn't been in the guild that long. I ran away from home and met Natsu in Hargeon. He brought me to the guild and we formed a team. A lot of things happened. We went on many adventures together. Natsu and I never dated. We always thought we were friends. I wasn't strong. I only had three gold keys when I met Natsu. I couldn't even use Star Dress. I knew so little about magic but you all protected me."

Erza looked sad as Lucy thought of the memories of a life that Erza would never remember, "We found out about Jellal and the Tower of Heaven when he kidnapped you. Jellal was mad at time. He was being manipulated and driven insane. We thought he died in the tower but he survived and lived a miserable life. You were both so unhappy. You forgave him for the past but he couldn't forgive himself. Simon died due to something he did but you blamed yourself."

Erza felt tears run down her face as Lucy described something so terrible, "The madness utterly consumed him. When he was healed, he lost his memories but he remembered you. He went to jail hoping that he would be punished for his sins. Eventually he ended up creating an independent guild dedicated to crushing dark guilds. The two of you never found any peace."

Lucy wiped away her tears, "When we arrived in the past I contacted Mystogan. He kidnapped Jellal and I had Loke cleanse the taint from his mind. I wanted to save you from the pain of the past."

Erza stared at her, "You did all that for me?"

Lucy smiled at her, "You deserve to be happy and he was your happiness. A lot of bad things are coming and he always managed to find his way to you. I thought that if I could save him then with him by your side you would be safer."

Erza grabbed Lucy and hugged her, "Thank you for saving him."

Lucy cried harder as she hugged Erza back. She cried for the woman she had known and lost in the other time line. She cried for the Erza who mourned her Jellal. She cried for every moment of happiness that had been lost in the other time line. She cried because she was so tired of carrying this secret.

Meanwhile Natsu explained to the Master where the dragons had gone and how they had come through the eclipse gate. He told the Master of the Dragon War which created Acnologia. He explained that Zeref was his older brother and that he was END.

"Natsu, what is END?" asked the Master and Natsu shrugged, "That I don't completely know. END was sealed into the book. Whatever he is I am not him. I am human but I am bound to the book. Its body link magic. If the book is destroyed by human body will be destroyed as well."

The master stared at him, "Fairy Tail will face off against the Balam Alliance. We will win and then eventually the war will come. Zeref wants to die. Everything he has done is because he seeks death. He doesn't care about anything else."

Makarov stared at Natsu, "Then why a war?"

Natsu frowned, "He believes that if he gains the Fairy Heart he will have power over space and time. He will end this world and create a new world. One where he will live his over and he will not make the same mistake this time. He won't let himself be cursed with immortality. The spell that he used on Lucy and I is something that he created for himself. He tried sending his own soul back to his younger body but he could only go back ten years. It wasn't enough time to stop him from becoming immortal."

Natsu got lost in his own thoughts for a moment, "He needs Fairy Heart so that he can boost the spell with enough power he'll be able to send himself back to almost 400 years ago."

Makarov nodded his head, "What are you and Lucy planning?"

Natsu shrugged, "Lisanna was going to die. Elfman would have killed her when he hit her. Mira would have lost all her magic power and Elfman wouldn't have attempted another Beast Soul for another two years. I saved her and now they're stronger than ever."

Natsu sat down ignoring the look of horror on the Masters face. He wasn't going to be mentioning Edolas unless Mystogan allowed him to do so. That whole affair made his head hurt.

"Gildarts wouldn't have known about Cana. Laxus would still be an ass because Siegrain would still be insane. All we've done is ensure that everyone is closer than ever and a bit more powerful. We need them to keep training and I'm running out of ideas on how to do that. The Spriggan 12 are monsters."

"Is there anything I need to know?" asked Master Makarov and Natsu shook his head.

"No. You just keep running the guild the way you are. Nothing life threatening will be happening any time soon. We can't change too much too soon. If we change too much then we can't predict what happens next. We lose the advantage."

Makarov nodded his head, "Are you going to accept the Title?"

Natsu frowned, "I'll talk to Lucy about it. If I do what number will I be?"

Makarov chuckled, "The Eighth Wizard Saint."

Natsu grinned, "Never really got to make it to S-class and now they wanna give me that fancy title."

"If you accept the title you'll automatically be an S-class mage Natsu." Replied Makarov and Natsu grinned.

The old man was relieved to see that Natsu never really changed all that much even after all that time. He worried about the war that Natsu spoke off but Natsu insisted that it wasn't for many years yet. Until the Balam Alliance was broken, Alvarez wouldn't be an issue. All he could do was watch out for his brats.


	23. Chapter 23

AN: So someone copied whole chunks of my first chapter, added some sentences to make it a little different and tried to pass off my work as their own in fanfiction. A shout out to Larissa who reviewed and brought it to my attention since I didn't know until she told me so I want to make something very clear – I have not given anyone permission to use my work. Whether its half the chapter or just a few lines my work is my own.

I worked really hard on this story. Every chapter is about 6000 words which is roughly 12 A4 pages. I double and triple check my spelling and grammar. I Google names and places associated with Fairy Tail to make sure the spelling is correct. I re-watch certain arcs as I'm writing them to make sure I write the characters correctly. I will not tolerate other people stealing parts of my work and passing it off as their own.

If I ever allow someone to use my work it will be because someone asked permission to translate the story. If anyone sees this happening again please let me know. This story is on fanfiction under the name nikki1997 and its on Wattpad under the name Nikkinaidoo9876. These accounts belong to me. No one else is allowed to use my work without my permission.

Chapter Twenty Three

There would be a ceremony held by the Council if Natsu decided to accept the title. Master Makarov agreed to wait a couple of days while Natsu discussed it with Lucy. Makarov wasn't sure if Natsu would accept the title or not. It was not something that he or Lucy had expected or planned for. The Council didn't need an immediate answer. Usually mages got one week before they gave a formal answer.

The Eight wizard saint may not sound like a big deal but Makarov knew differently. The saints never truly knew who was the strongest of them all. To know that answer would mean that they would need to battle and the destruction would probably wipe the country from the face of Earthland.

Makarov himself was known as the sixth saint. He had no doubts that Natsu would rise through the ranks of the saints if he decided to accept the title. Both Jose and Jellal had needed to be replaced because Jellal retired and Jose was excommunicated.

The Ace of Lamia Scale, Jura Neekis had not been a saint for very long but he was known as the tenth seat. He had technically replaced Jose. Jura had a good reputation and after the mess that Jose left behind there was no one better to take his place. Jura had already improved the reputation of the council after the disaster that they were facing with Jose.

If Natsu accepted he would be Jura's senpai. He almost grinned. He loved rubbing his brats accomplishments in the faces of the other guild masters. Lamia Scale had always been extra proud of the fact that Jura was one of the youngest people recognized as a wizard saint. Now he had Siegrain and Natsu who were both younger than Jura and recognized as Wizard Saints.

None of that changed the fact that Natsu's decision would have far reaching consequences. This decision wouldn't be all fun and games no matter how much Makarov would gloat in the future. There was no one who would understand the consequences better than Natsu's wife Lucy.

They would need some time to make a real decision. Until Natsu and Lucy made their decision he wouldn't announce this to the guild. There would be many questions from the guild members if he accepted the title. They would want to know how he was able to rise this quickly to that level.

Natsu would have to come up with a reason to why his training had been so far advanced. Makarov was certain that his brats would be happy for Natsu but it would blind side them. No one would have guessed that Natsu would have actually become a Wizard Saint. At least not this young but they would cross that bridge when they got to it.

Natsu told Makarov that if he had any questions about the other timeline he should speak with Mystogan. Mystogan knew everything about the other time line so he would be able to give the old man any answers that he needed. It would also take time to break down everything that happened and how it impacted their future.

Makarov would probably need to make notes of everything. He would need to make list of the dark guilds that got involved and the enemies that they would come across again. He would also need to figure out who would become an ally in the future and who would forever be a pain the ass. There was a part of him that knew that if he knew too much then things might not play out correctly.

Everyone who knew about the time travel was currently walking a fine line. They couldn't use too much of the information from the future. If they changed too much then the knowledge became useless. If they didn't do anything then people could get hurt. The situation made his head hurt.

Makarov sat in his office for hours after Natsu had left with Lucy to go see Wendy. Everything that he just learned kept running in circles in his mind. Natsu hadn't told him much about the other timeline. He only explained the dragon war that took place over four hundred years ago and how dragon slaying magic created Acnologia. The other dragons created a plan to ensure that someone would be able to defeat him and ensure that other dragon slayers wouldn't turn into dragons.

They were the first ones who meddled in time. He explained about the war that they would have with Alvarez Empire. Zeref Dragneel and his curse which was caused by his desire to bring his little brother back to life. He desired death above everything else. He no longer cared who got hurt in his quest. He never set out to become the monster that he became but at the end of the day nothing would change that he would destroy everyone in his quest for death.

Makarov had for a long time feared what would happen if they attacked, now he had confirmation that war would come for his family. He looked down at his brats in the guild and he knew that they would have to face 12 generals. Mages powerful enough to wipe out entire countries would attack and according to Natsu they had lost. He and Lucy had returned to make sure that it wouldn't happen again.

Now they had a few years to prepare for a war. However before they could deal with the war that would eventually come for them they needed to defeat the Balam Alliance. He knew that in a few weeks the Regular meeting would take place.

Oracion Seis had been making moves for some time now and it was starting to worry many. Their movements were spelling trouble and the Master knew it would be brought up at the meeting. The guilds wouldn't be able to ignore them for much longer.

Natsu had given him much to think about but at the same time he knew that he couldn't make any drastic changes. Natsu and Lucy were working on improving everyone with the knowledge of what was to come. If he interfered too much something might go wrong. Natsu had told the Master that he believed the reason why Deliora had been revived was due to their actions.

Lucy's father had caught the attention of Jose who had always been plotting against Fairy Tail. Due to the Phantom guild attacking months in advance and being defeated Jose was able to use his knowledge about Deliora to ensure that he would be revived. It was something that had not happened but it was technically because of the changes that they made. Jose wouldn't have interfered with Deliora if Jude had not uncovered his secrets.

Jose wanted revenge on the guild that imprisoned him. He also sought to destroy the council that once supported him but turned their backs on him. Honestly, the man didn't have a real plan. He just wanted to hurt someone, anyone because he had lost everything. Jose had nothing left to lose. He pulled a few strings and ended up unleashing one of the most powerful demons that plagued this country.

The ripple effect was a perfect way of thinking about it. For now, he would think of a way to encourage his brats to train a bit more. Natsu himself had run out of ideas. He had sent them off on training trips when he first returned to this time. Then he got Erza, Wendy, Gray and Juvia to train with them sometimes saying that they needed to be able to work as a team.

Laxus and his team often got dragged off with Mystogan and Siegrain who had been training them. Levy seemed to be training with Freed off and on and she was majorly powering up. Cana often got dragged off with Gildarts who always made sure he returned every few months to see his daughter. It didn't matter to him how many times she told him that nothing between them needed to change. He wanted to be there for her.

Makarov wasn't sure what to do about the training but he sent a message to Mystogan letting him know that Natsu and Lucy had filled him in and that he had questions. The two of them could discuss things without bringing much attention from the other guild members. Mystogan was known for hanging around the Master in the offices instead of the crowds when he got overwhelmed. Natsu rarely ever spent time with him unless he was in trouble.

This was not the type of knowledge that one spread around. Time travel was dangerous magic. It was something that was only theorized about and the amount of magic power that Zeref had used probably drained him dry. Dangerous magic would bring negative attention to the members of the guild.

Then there was the fact that it dealt with soul magic. The only branch of magic more unstable and unknown than soul magic would be blood magic. That was not just dark magic but black magic. Dark magic was not always evil. Many people confused dark with evil. Magic was not evil, it was the mage and their intentions that decided on what evil would be.

Mira's Satan Soul was a perfect example of dark not being evil. Black magic on the other hand went against everything that magic should be. There were things out there that one did not interfere with and soul magic was one of the biggest unknowns.

Lucy and Natsu would be targeted if the knowledge got out. People would want to know how it was possible and about the effects that it had on the body. It was best that no one knew anything. They had done well limiting the people who knew and only involving those who they believed would be able to help them. He trusted them to do what was right even if the future terrified him.

Natsu, Lucy and Wendy spent the next three days at home. Lucy was still drained from summoning six spirits even though she had been training to do it for months. The spell wasn't ready yet but it worked well as a make shift shield. Lucy slept for nearly 36 hours and she was starving when she woke up.

Wendy seemed amused as Lucy consumed everything in the fridge. She wanted to hear all about the mission so Happy told her everything that he had been around to see. He had spent the battle with Deliora vs. Natsu in the village. He did get to tell Wendy all about moon drip and the different rituals that they had come across.

Lucy glazed over the blood sacrifices as she explained the fight that got her papa named Wizard Saint. Lucy and Natsu had spent hours discussing the title. It would bring them a whole of attention but attention was something that they couldn't avoid in this time. In their other life Natsu was always recognized as the Salamander who was a powerful mage but it wasn't as big as this.

Natsu never got this much attention because their fights had never been this publicized. Then there was the fact that as a Duchess Lucy was still a member of nobility. Natsu was now part of upper society because he married her. He once told her that technically he was the Prince of the Fire Dragons (maybe it was King since Igneel gave him his power) and since his big brother was the Emperor of Alvarez he was a Prince twice over.

Lucy rolled her eyes at him. The age of Dragons were over which meant that the title was null and void. There was no kingdom or lands or wealth which meant to the snobs of upper society it was just a title. As for the Alvarez empire it was not a connection that he wanted to make public.

Technically Zeref didn't even see Natsu as his little brother anymore. Lucy was pretty sure that once Zeref fell Alvarez would have to come up with a new way to govern their country. They would probably no longer be a monarchy. Zeref had conquered many nations and killed many people in creating his kingdom. Their country would be due a major overhaul.

The Title of Wizard Saint was one recognized by the nobility and the Magic Council. It held power in their country and in this age. However there was a more important reason that Lucy insisted that he accept the title. The day would come when Makarov disbanded the guild and he would leave instructions for Mest to gather the Wizard Saints to establish a new Magic Council.

They needed to know what was happening when the time came. Natsu needed to be there to ensure that the country would be ready for the attack. When Alvarez attacked the last time the entire country had been unprepared. This time she was going to ensure that the people had somewhere to hide while the battles raged. She needed the army ready to protect and defend the people.

Their military wouldn't be able to stand against Alvarez military. Everyone who had marched into their lands was able to use magic. However the military could provide defense and buy much time as the guilds went to war. Makarov never wanted to involve the other guilds in the war. Lucy could understand that he hadn't wanted to involve anyone in the guilds business. However it wouldn't work.

Alvarez would march into Fiore because they wanted Fairy Heart but this land was home to all the guilds. None of them would stand back and just allow them to take what belonged to them. Ichiya had once called every guild to war. Lucy and Natsu were not going to be so naïve and believe that they would be able to win this war on their own. They had already tried and failed.

In the end of a very long conversation where they listed pros and cons for hours Natsu decided to accept the title. In the end no matter how much this changed for their current battles having Natsu as part of the Magic Council was too good to pass up. T

The year before the war would grant them the most opportunities to prepare. Lucy had once been heartbroken when everyone went their separate ways but at the time she also understood. The battle with the Tartaros guild had broken them all in some way. They all lost something or were forced to confront their pasts. Each and every member in the guild needed some time away.

As much as Lucy wished that everyone could have stayed together she knew how much they all improved on their own. Sometimes people needed to fall apart so that they could realize how much they needed to fall back together. Their bonds still led them back home. It just took some time and distance and pain to realize that they needed to go home.

Once it was announced that Natsu was now the Eighth Wizard Saint the guild went nuts. They had four dragon slayers, Laxus, Wendy, Gajeel and Natsu. Their guild also had three mages who were recognized as wizard saints Natsu, Makarov and Siegrain.

Everyone knew that Laxus was closing in on that title as well. Gildarts had qualified for the title years ago. Titania Erza and Demon Mirajane were their S-class female mages who could give their male counterparts a run for their money. Their guild was currently recognized as the strongest guild in Fiore. Honestly, the guild while always being popular had never gotten this much attention in the other timeline. It seemed like every time something happened they ended up in the newspaper.

The Sorcerer spent weeks running articles on every powerful mage that they had in the guild. They spoke of Natsu and his fight against Deliora, Lucy who defended the entire town, Titania Erza, Demon Mirajane, Gray the Ice Prince, Juvia the Rain Woman and others. It had brought a lot of popularity to the guild. It sort of reminded Lucy of the time that they won the GMG.

Once the media circus had left town Natsu and Lucy finally got a moment to breathe. They had just spent the weekend in Crocus where Natsu had officially accepted the title. The Royal Family was present and Lucy immediately made friends with a much younger Princess Hisui. Lucy nearly forgot that she hadn't aged for seven years.

There were several nobles who seemed to be polite enough to the couple. There were those who still looked down on Natsu but Lucy caught several of them looking like they were sucking on a lemon. It was the most fun she ever had one of those boring society parties. Her father had cried a little over their accomplishments. Honestly, they were both just happy to be home.

Well that was what they thought until Gray showed up at their door and demanded that Natsu go for a walk with him. Lucy stared at Gray for a few minutes. She hadn't seen him much since the Master announced that Natsu was named a Wizard Saint.

"Don't worry. I'll bring him back later. Probably around sunset or something." Called out Gray as he dragged Natsu by the back of his shirt as if he were a misbehaving puppy.

Lucy stared at the two of them as they disappeared into the woods. Lucy knew that Gray and Natsu were good friends. They fought often and argued over petty stupid things but they were best friends. However Gray wasn't a warm and cuddly person.

He walked around like he was the one who wore armor. Gray kept people far away from him because he was afraid that they would leave him. He never really acknowledged the bond between him and Natsu. At least not to the extent that he would seek Natsu out and spend the entire day with him. Lucy wondered what was so important that he would actually turn to Natsu for help.

Wendy was off on a mission with Carla and Happy which meant that she had the house to herself for a few hours. Lucy decided to work on her book for a few hours while she had the spare time. If Gray was correct she would get her husband back around sunset.

Meanwhile Natsu grumbled as Gray dragged him through the forest, "What the hell do you want ya bastard? I was gonna take Luce out on a date."

Gray stared at the pink haired man, "A date? Did she know? She didn't say you had any plans."

Natsu frowned, "Course not. Then it wouldn't be a surprise. She's been stressed out and busy. I thought it would be nice to spend some time together."

Gray bit his lip and even though he had so many questions he couldn't help but want to ask these ones first. While they were already on the topic Gray decided to just ask, "Natsu why would you want to get married so young?"

"I love her Gray. Now what am I doing here?" replied Natsu.

"How did you get so powerful? Why are your flames so different? Since when can you use lightning? When did you meet Lucy if she was always locked up in her mansion? What's really going on here?" he cried out in frustration and Natsu resisted the urge to face palm.

He knew that Gray would figure it out. Natsu didn't like to admit it but Gray was actually a lot like Lucy. They both were extremely intelligent and they saw things that no one else saw. Gray could be goaded into a fight with him easily however usually he was as cool as the magic he used. Gray and Lucy were both level-headed people unless they were dealing with him.

Natsu was easily able to distract and goad Gray into a fight. With Lucy it was different. He just sort of frustrated her and then he got her to see things his way. It was well-known to the guild in the other timeline that no one could frustrate Lucy like Natsu. He almost missed her Lucy kicks which he would get once he got on her last nerve.

Back to the topic at hand, Natsu knew that if anyone would figure out that something was off with everything that was happening even though they created excuses it would be Gray. Natsu assumed it would be Gray who figured it out because the ice freak constantly fought with Natsu. As much as he hated to admit it he and Gray were on the same level.

Every time either one of them managed to power up, the other was never far behind. Lucy was sure that Erza would figure out that something was off. Lucy wasn't wrong since Erza did have many questions but it was Gray who would go and look back at everything that happened and drew up a time line.

Gray must have asked around and figured out that he couldn't have met Lucy simply because she never left her home. Then he suddenly showed up and they got married with her fathers blessing. There were a lot of things that didn't add up simply because they didn't know each other before they got married. Gray knew something was off because the timeline didn't add up. Erza only had her suspicions.

Natsu wasn't sure if he should tell Gray everything. Then again Lucy had told Erza and she still needed to face her mother. Gray's biggest obstacle had once been Lyon and Deliora. It was important for him to face Lyon and move past what happened to Ur or at least acknowledge the past.

However there was the fact that his father was currently alive (sort of) and with the Tartaros guild. His father who would one day pass on his power to his son and then go on to tell his son to destroy END. Natsu was END – sort of. Natsu sighed it wasn't right not to tell Gray especially since Erza already knew.

"I told Luce that you would figure it out. Common I got a long story to tell you."

Natsu left out the part about Gray's father and the magic that he would someday inherit. He started with the dragon war and then everything that happened with Anna and the gate. He explained how Zeref got cursed and the reason he created everything that he did.

He explained Igneel and the other dragons and their plan. He briefly explained what Fairy Tail would face and then he told him about the war with the Alvarez Empire.

Mostly he told Gray his story about his past and how he met Lucy and how he fell in love with her. He explained that Zeref sent them back in time, years before they met. Then he lied down on the grass and just listened to the forest while Gray processed everything that he just learned. Natsu knew that Gray would need some time to process everything.

"That's why you're so powerful now. It makes sense now since you have all those years of experience. Sounds incredible but I still don't get why the two of you got married so quickly."

Natsu shook his head, "I thought she was dead Gray. I saw her die once but this was different. I could smell her blood on the ground, hear her labored breaths as she fought for life and I could hear her heart giving out. If Zeref was even a minute late she would have been dead."

Gray could hear the pain in his voice as he explained it, "I loved her for years. I left her and I still couldn't get her out of my head. I thought she didn't feel the same way so I kept quiet. We let so many moments pass us by that I lost count of the number of times we nearly became something more. I was afraid and I didn't want things to change. I lost her."

Natsu looked at the clouds in the sky, "I wasn't letting another moment go when I woke up in the past. I've known for years that she was the only person I would ever love and I wasn't going to let anyone guess or misunderstand or wonder."

Gray watched as Natsu's hand curled into a fist at his side, "I wasn't going to lose another moment after everything that we did lose. I was so sacred of everything that would change that I hadn't had a single moment of happiness with her. When I got back here there was only one thing I wanted. I wanted Lucy to know that I loved her and that I would only ever love her. She. Is. Mine. My wife, my family, mine."

Gray couldn't wrap around the person that was sitting next to him. This pink haired young man was the same idiot he had known his whole life. Natsu was Natsu. He was fiery, loud, brash and stubborn but this was a side of him that he didn't know existed. Natsu always went all in ever since he was a kid.

Once Natsu put his mind to something nothing would be able to change it. Natsu loved Lucy and once he lost her he couldn't deal with losing her a second time. He bound himself to her in every way possible because he refused to live without loving her a second time.

However to Gray he couldn't understand loving someone at that level. For a moment he saw Juvia and he couldn't help the pit that settled in his stomach. Everything about the blue haired woman terrified him and he didn't understand why. She wasn't his enemy but there was still something about her that made him question everything. She scared him.

"Isn't it scary loving her like that?" asked Gray and Natsu chuckled, "Bloody fucking terrifying. First time I realized something about her was different I called her fat and she kicked me out a window."

Gray gaped at Natsu and he shrugged, "I was nineteen. I met her in Hargeon and there was just something about her. She was like a magnet and at first I thought I was just curious about her. I thought that once I got to know her I would see her like I saw all the other guild members. It never happened. Every time I saw her I fell in love a little bit more. Everything about her made me happy and I couldn't understand why. I didn't know what to do with all those things she made me feel."

Natsu just shook his head and he had a sheepish smile on his face, "I spoke to Gildarts and realized that everything with her was different. When I realized I loved her I was terrified. Then I realized the only thing more terrifying than loving her was living without her. Juvia scares you doesn't she?"

Gray chuckled, "She isn't Erza."

He didn't want to admit it to Natsu of all people. There was no way that Juvia would hurt him but he still had no idea why he was so scared of her. It made sense to be afraid of Erza. She would kick their asses.

Natsu nodded, "Nope but you can see your future in her eyes and it scares the crap out of you."

Gray sighed, "How did you know?"

Natsu just looked at the sky, "Lucy scared the crap out of me but I still couldn't stay away from her."

Gray groaned, "Any advice?"

Natsu stood up, "Don't make her wait too long. Don't ask her out until you're ready to face forever. If you see forever with her then make sure you're ready to spend forever with her. Do whatever you need to do then get your girl. Make her wait too long and someone might steal her away from you."

Gray rubbed the palms of his hands into his eyes. He didn't expect this conversation to end up in this direction but at the very least he managed to get the answer to every question that he asked. He just lied down in the shade of the tree and let his thoughts race through everything he learned.

He didn't know what to say anymore. Natsu had unloaded lots of information on him. Gray just sat under the shade of the tree and processed everything. However for some reason every thought still managed to lead back to her. He was still so damn scared and Natsu didn't say a word.

Natsu knew that it would take some time for Gray to come to terms with his feelings for Juvia. In this time line he was actually acknowledging what he felt for her instead of pretending that there was nothing there. Natsu understood it. He never spoke up because he didn't want things to change.

He didn't know if it would work out. He didn't know what the future could bring for them and then he lost her. He realized in that moment when he lost her that he didn't care about anything or anyone. He wanted her by his side for as long as he drew breath. As long as they were together he was sure that they would be able to make it through anything.

Lucy thought that she would spend the day writing and relaxing until Erza knocked on her door with a huge blush on her face. She welcomed Erza inside the house and raised an eyebrow that the completely out of character behavior.

"Are you alright?" asked Lucy and Erza turned as red as her hair.

"I needed advice." Mumbled Erza and Lucy just looked at her.

She went into the kitchen and made a cup of tea for both of them. Something told her that this conversation was going to get heavy and a cup of tea was always calming.

"What do you need?" asked Lucy.

"I asked Siegrain out on a d-d-d-d-date."

Lucy spat out the tea and started choking. Erza rushed around the kitchen grabbing a napkin and fussing over her when Lucy grabbed her hand and pulled her into the chair.

"I'm fine." Said Lucy as she wiped her mouth with the napkin, "Just surprised but I have to know does Siegrain know it's a date?"

Erza started playing with her fingers, "I saw him at the guild. We chatted for a bit and I remembered everything that you said about the other timeline. I told him that I knew but I didn't blame him and then Laxus showed up and told him that they had to go somewhere. He asked me to meet up with him later and I suggested we go for dinner."

Lucy raised an eyebrow as Erza covered her eyes. She was too busy remembering it.

Flashback

Siegrain blushed, "Dinner Erza?" he repeated and she nodded her head. Erza gathered her courage and repeated herself, "Dinner. As a date."

Siegrain just stared at her with a blush on his face and Erza felt her eyes widen as he didn't say anything, "It doesn't have to be one if you don't want it to be." Mumbled Erza and the blue haired man shook his head and yelled a little, "NO!"

Laxus raised an eyebrow at them both and they both could just see the amusement on his face when Siegrain blushed even more, "I mean a date would be nice. I'll pick you up at 6 at Fairy Hills."

The two men rushed out of the guild and as soon as the doors closed Erza could hear Laxus laughing his ass off and Siegrain threatening to neuter him if he didn't shut up. Then Erza realized what she had gotten herself into and ran all the way to Lucy's home. She needed help!

Flashback ends

Lucy felt her jaw drop, "You actually asked him out on a date and he said yes."

Erza nodded her head, "We've been really close for a while now and after I learned about how hard we struggled to find each other in that other time line I couldn't just let the opportunity pass me by. I wasn't thinking. It just came out of my mouth before I realized I said it."

Lucy looked at her friend and bit her lip, "Is this what you really want? You didn't just say it because of what you learned about the other timeline right?"

Erza nodded her head even though she was still blushing, "I want to be happy Lucy. When we're together I am happy."

Lucy could understand wanting to be happy so she smiled, "Are you ready for a relationship?"

Erza punched a hole through her table, "I don't know. Its just taking this step is so scary. There are so many unknowns to me."

Lucy smiled gently at Erza, "You know I was terrified to marry Natsu. In the other time line we were always more than friends but less than a couple. We danced that line nearly every day because we were both so scared. I didn't want to lose my best friend. Natsu was someone I counted on so much and if a relationship didn't work out between us everything would be ruined."

Erza stared at her. She knew that Lucy said that they weren't dating in the other time line but she never really had the chance to figure out why they got married so quickly. Lucy was sixteen and Natsu had been eighteen when they returned to this time period. They were barely legal and they had already gotten married. It was a huge step, bigger than the one she was currently worrying over.

"Then how did you end up married?" asked Erza and Lucy laughed, "Natsu convinced me that he loved me and that he wouldn't have me as anything other than his wife. Marriage isn't always easy but neither is a relationship. Only you can know your own heart and if you love him as much as I think you do then you'll have to work on it."

Lucy made herself another cup of tea, "Only you can know if he is worth putting in the effort for and if he is and you both work on it then it will succeed. It's scary but when you think of him holding your hand and helping you along. Do you think you can face your fears?"

Erza nodded and Lucy could see her making her decision, "I know we can make it."

Lucy just looked at her. They sat in silence for a while until Erza looked at the clock and then at Lucy, "What am I supposed to wear? He'll come to pick me up in two hours."

Lucy's eyes widened and she grabbed the red head, "We gotta head to your apartment and get you ready. Run!"

Natsu and Gray walked out of the forest to see a blur of blonde and red rushing past them. Natsu reached out blindly and grabbed Lucy. The woman smiled sweetly at him and kissed his cheek, "Erza has a date. I'll see you later."

Natsu watched her go with a goofy grin on his face as he turned back to the house. Gray just stared for a moment before he turned to Natsu, "Did Lucy say that Erza had a date?"

Natsu nodded his head before freezing in place, "Who would take Erza out on a date?" asked Natsu.

The two men shared a look of horror before agreeing that they knew nothing and that conversation never happened. They didn't want to know who was crazy enough to ask the Titania out on a date that she actually accepted.


End file.
